Transfer From Salem
by MagicalGirl85
Summary: Strange things begin to happen in James and Lily's seventh year. It only starts with an American transfer into their class. Then hormones get involved. Then the War. All they're hoping for is to live through it. That isn't too much to ask for, is it? Ships: Jily
1. New Chances

**A/N: EDITED VERSION - I would like to thank my wonderful Betas, Livi and Jane!**

* * *

Transfer from Salem

Chapter 1: New Chances

"Congrats Lil!" A curvy brunette strides in through the glass door of their usual compartment.

"Thanks Elaine." The red-head hugs one of her best friends.

"Who else would have been Head Girl?" A petite blonde follows Elaine.

"Hullo Evelyn." She sighs. "Allison Elroy, she's an inspiration!" Lily insists.

"Oh please, she may have the whole school convinced she's a saint, but Dumbledore isn't stupid, he knows she's bitter and mean on the inside," Evelyn scoffs.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." A short brunette stands at the door of Lily and her friend's compartment, interrupting Lily's response.

"Of course!" Lily moves her owl onto her lap. The girl sits uncertainly in the place next to the ginger. "I'm Lily Evans. Are you from America?" She sticks out her palm to shake hands with the newcomer.

"Katrina Mace and yeah, I am." Katrina shakes hands with Lily, rolling her eyes ever so slightly.

"Why are you here?" Everyone's attention diverts to the blonde of the group.

"Way to be blunt Evie," Elaine mumbles, a smirk dancing on her lips. Evelyn turns on her, who flips her light brown hair over her shoulder, feigning innocence.

"Don't call me that," Evelyn snaps.

"Would both of you be quiet? Or at least, _polite_,"Lily hisses at her friends

"It's fine, Lily, I've been victim to much worse," Katrina insists, chuckling at Lily's irritation.

"At least _introduce_ yourselves." Lily rolls her eyes

"Evelyn Skeeter." The blonde shakes Katrina's hand as well. "_Don't _call me Evie," she adds.

"And _I'm_ the estimable Elaine Crouch." Katrina notices the blonde highlights in Elaine's hair.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Katrina grins. "And to answer your question Evelyn, I got kicked out of my last school, so now I'm enrolled here." Her grin only widens at the shock of her companions.

"What school?" Evelyn begins her thorough interrogation.

"How?" Elaine interrupts with an inquiry

"Salem Witches' Institute and that's a rather long story, so I'll leave it until a later time." Suddenly, the door of the compartment flies open.

"Prefects' meeting, Lily-kins!" a boy with shaggy, dark hair calls out.

"I know, I'm Head Girl! And don't you call me that, Black!" Lily scolds.

"Always the tone of superiority, Evans. And who's this?" The boy moves inside of the compartment and plops himself down next to Katrina, squishing between the newcomer and Lily.

"Sirius Black."

"Katrina Mace." She laughs and shakes Sirius's outstretched hand. Katrina notices a thin boy with sandy hair behind Sirius. He steps forward and kindly introduces himself as Remus Lupin.

"Peter Pettigrew." A stout, mousy boy nods his head in her direction. She smiles at both of them.

"Nice to see a new face here once in a while, all these oldies never change, always so hostile to poor Sirius," Sirius says in third person and pouts for the effect.

"Hey! I'm plenty nice!" Elaine protests

"True enough. Now, Lily your Head Boy and all the prefects are waiting."

"Where's Potter?" Lily finally notes his absence from his usual gang.

"You could refer to _James_ by his first name, love." Lily scowls at Sirius.

"And who's Head Boy? No one seems to know," she asks as well. Remus and Sirius share some furtive glances and say nothing.

"It's not – no of course not – why would Dumbledore pick _him?"_

"I asked the same question when he told us," Remus says with a sigh.

But, we'd better get going Lily, we're going to be late." Lily curses and springs from her seat. She says hurried good-byes to her friends and strides out the door with Remus on her heels.

"This should be an interesting year," Sirius muses and the girls around him agree warily.

"But, really, who'd make _James _Head Boy?" Evelyn scoffs.

"I take offense! I think James will make a brilliant Head Boy!" He smirks.

"Who exactly _is _this James character?" Katrina asks, feeling out of the loop.

"James Potter is my best friend and fellow Marauder. He is a proud trouble-maker and," Sirius lowers his voice to a stage whisper, "has been quite obviously in love with Lily ever since third year. But, alas, she detests the poor boy."

"I didn't think Lily could detest anyone. She just seems to be the kind of person to find the good in everyone," Katrina ponders thoughtfully.

"She _is_ that kind of person." Sirius scowls and pauses.

"Just not to James"

* * *

"Hello everyone! Congratulations on being chosen as this year's Prefects!" A smattering of applause greets this sentiment.

"I'm Lily Evans, your new Head Girl."

"And I'm James Potter, the Head Boy" The whole room bursts into applause at this. Lily glares at James and continues to explain the responsibilities of Prefects.

"Also, we will have a Prefect meeting next week to decide our rounds schedule." A low rumble of grumbling sounds throughout the room at this reminder. "Alright, you guys are dismissed! Have a great first day back!" Lily tries to be as cheery as possible, but inside she's dying to leave. _How could Dumbledore _do _this to her?!_

"Don't look so annoyed, Evans, this means we get to spend more time together!" James grins lopsidedly, leaning back in his chair.

"Why do you _think_ I'm annoyed, Potter?" She rolls her eyes.

"Because Benjy interrupted you." His grin only widens when she sighs, exasperated.

"_No._"

"Oh, so I can interrupt you without you getting mad at me?"

"_No!_ I'm annoyed because _you're _Head Boy!" Lily snaps.

"Oh, that cuts to the bone, Lily." She's about to respond sarcastically, but then she realizes that he _used her first name_. They _never_ use each other's first names; they were on a _strict_ surname basis. So instead, she stands there gaping at him.

"What? Am I not allowed to use your first name?"

"I – just didn't – think – you and I – we – don't," Lily stammers.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that we call each other by our surnames?" James is adopting a tired look Lily has never seen before.

"We always have!" Lily protests.

"But _why?" _James asks her. She opens her mouth to speak several times, but closes it each time. He's stumped her. They call each other by their last names because that's how they've always interacted with each other. Her third-year reasoning was that normal, _respectable _people go by their first names. James was neither normal nor respectable; therefore she called him 'Potter' and he always retaliated in suite by calling her 'Evans'. Remus chooses this moment to stick his head in the overly-large compartment.

"James, Sirius and Peter claimed our usual compartment. You coming?"

"Yeah, let's go, Moony." James stands and with one last exasperated glance at Lily, he leaves the compartment. That was the weirdest James has ever acted around her. He was always arrogant, goofy and stupid around her; not tired and irritable. What happened to James Potter over the summer?

* * *

**A/N: Just an idea, I'm starting to collect pictures for this story - yes I'm a dork. Go to my tumblr if you want to see them. My tumblr is on my profile.**


	2. Misconstrued Indignation

Chapter 2: Misconstrued Indignation

James hadn't had the best summer, despite the fact that his best friend, Sirius Black was permanently staying at his house. He was simply glad to be back where things made sense. Except, upon his return, he realized that things at Hogwarts were just as confusing as things at home and he really did not want to deal with it. He joked around with his friends and flirted with his long-time crush, but it didn't feel the same.

He let her first name slip from his lips before he thought about it. James always referred to her as 'Lily' when he thought about her, not 'Evans' as she prefers to be called by him, because who calls their long-time crush by their last name? _Who?_ He was well aware of the fact that she detests him, but he convinced himself that there has to be something he could do that would change her opinion of him. There _has_ to be! If he was really as bad as she thought he was, then why did his friends always tell him it wasn't so? Surely, if he were that terrible person she made him out to be, he wouldn't have such magnificent friends. James was even friends with some of her friends!

"Alright, Prongs?" Sirius asks upon James's entry into their regular compartment. "Prefect meeting went well?"

"He led them quite well, much to Lily's astonishment." Remus grins.

"I'm guessing she lashed out?" Peter muses. James nods miserably.

"Mate, Lily hasn't changed over the holiday, what did you expect?" James simply shrugs, knowing what Sirius said is true. But what remains unspoken and hangs in the air of the compartment is that _James_ has changed and he expected that miraculously Lily would notice that. Just by being in the same room with him, that she would be able to tell what had happened over the summer between their sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts; that the great James Potter had been humbled. Sirius sighs and decides to change the subject.

"There's a new girl this year, a transfer from Salem Witches' Institute; her name's Katrina."

"Don't immediately go and shag her, Padfoot. Give the girl time to settle in." Sirius grins, baring his teeth and doesn't even pretend to be offended.

"She's quite fit, that one. A bit short, but still not bad looking."

"_Sirius._" James implores his friend to have some restraint.

"I'm just joking, Prongs. She seemed much too smart for my taste." Sirius tended to go for the girls often referred to as 'bimbos'. They're easier to snog and/or shag and then leave.

"Hello boys." The compartment opens to reveal a round-faced girl with long, dark hair.

"Hey Ali!" James greets his longest childhood friend.

"Good day, Allison, my sweet." Sirius smirks as she scowls at him

"Be quiet, Sirius, you know that's not my full name," Alice snaps and sits across from the offender, between James and Remus.

"Hi Alice," Remus greets her. Peter is snoring beside Sirius, having to wake up very early to drive here. His mother was a muggleborn and since both of his parents died when he was young, he's been raised by his muggle grandparents. They are _very _strict. They are one of the reasons he's so timid, so unable to defend himself.

"What's wrong, James?" James groans. Is he really that transparent, that obvious?

"You're only obvious to your friends, Prongs," Sirius reads James's expression and reassures him. "Our dear Miss Evans snapped at him today at the Prefect meeting." Alice's expression softens at the mention of Lily.

"I'm sorry, James. But did you really expect anything else?" Her voice is quiet and hesitant. James covers his face with his hands and tips his head against the wall behind him, groaning once more.

"You have too much hope, Prongsie." Sirius claps his friend on the back. Sirius then takes pity on James and changes the subject. Alice stays in their compartment until it's time to change into their Hogwarts robes, then she leaves them to go see her girlfriends.

* * *

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Evelyn scowls at her grim, red-headed friend.

"Potter was just being a prick at the Prefect meeting, per usual," she huffs.

"Hm, I don't know, you look more perturbed than irritated, per usual," Elaine points out, inspecting Lily's whole demeanor. "What did he do?" It takes a while to get any of information out of Lily. She clearly did _not _want to talk about it.

"Ugh, _fine,_ he – he used my first name-"

"What's wrong with that?" Katrina interrupts, very confused as to what is the problem.

"James and Lily _always _refer to each other by their surnames; I find it stupid, but that's how it is," Evelyn explains this with a roll of her eyes.

"_Anyway_, he used my first name and – I dunno – he just acted really strange around me. All irritable and… tired. Not physically, like – like he was tired of _me_ or something." Lily shrugs, looking at her lap.

"Do you mean he _wasn't _acting like a lovesick puppy?"

"Not really," Lily mutters and shrugs again, trying not to act bothered by it.

"Lil, do you think this just means he's getting over you and acting like he normally would around other people?" Elaine has a smirk written all over her face, clearly enjoying that fact that this bothers her friend. "Isn't that what you've wanted since fifth year?"

"_Yes_," Lily insists, but her friends aren't convinced. Lily honestly didn't know how she feels about James _not_ liking her. It was definitely a first. But why did it bother her so much? Isn't Elaine right? Isn't that what she had been whining for since his first annoying proposal? Just then the door of their compartment opens to reveal Alice Fortescue.

"Hey guys!" She smiles brightly at her friends. "Hi, are you Katrina?" The newcomer nods, slightly suspicious as to how Alice already knows her name.

"Yes and you are?"

"Alice Fortescue, Sirius told me about you." They shake hands and Alice takes the seat in between Evelyn and Elaine.

"You don't seem very happy." They continue their previous conversation. Katrina seems to have adopted Elaine's approach.

"I _am _happy, why wouldn't be? James doesn't like me anymore. That's good." Lily defends herself, but even she hears how pathetic she sounds. Alice smiles to herself, if only Lily knew. "What are you smiling at, Alice?"

"Oh nothing," she responds hurriedly, though her smile says a different story. "What's this about James not liking Lily?" she addresses Elaine, the most likely to spill.

"Apparently, James acted _irritable _around Lily," Elaine says this with mock-melodrama. Alice winces, having just gotten James's version of the story.

"He's had a hard summer," she says quietly. "Don't take it personally, Lily."

"I'm not!_" _Lily protests. Elaine snorts and Evelyn gives Lily her best _Oh-really? _look.

"I'm _not!"_

"You're biting your lip," Alice points out.

"So?" Lily challenges her to finish her statement.

"It means you're nervous or upset," Elaine says smugly, finishing it for Alice.

"_Ugh_, just drop it, will you?" Lily begs.

"_Fine, _for now." Elaine sighs.

* * *

"Alice! ALLISON FORTESCUE!" Alice hears Sirius yell her names and turns to his voice.

"WHAT?" She yells back. Lily rolls her eyes at the Marauder.

"DO YOU KNOW WHERE PRONGS IS?" All second-seventh years are walking across the grounds, having just gotten off the Carriages.

"NO, WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE HIM?" If Lily didn't know better, she'd think Sirius was _actually _concerned.

"HE CAME OFF THE TRAIN WITH US AND THEN DISSAPPEARED." Sirius is walking closer to the group of girls, so they don't need to shout. When he's finally in speaking distance, Alice responds.

"That's odd. I'm sure he'll turn up." Alice lowers her voice so only Sirius can hear the next comment. "I think he needs some time alone." Sirius nods, if reluctantly, calls over Remus and Peter and heads up to the Entrance Hall without his best mate.


	3. Attacks Make One Aflutter

**Thanks to my wonderful Beta, Jane!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Attacks Make One Aflutter

Alice's owl, a Tasmanian Masked Owl, flies low over the table and drops a letter into the brunette's lap. "Thanks, Ozzy." The owl nips her finger affectionately and flies back out of the Hall. Alice opens the letter slowly and blush blossoming on her cheeks when she sees who it's from.

"Who's that from, Alice?" Elaine inquires, noticing Alice's happy expression.

"Frank." She doesn't even attempt to hold in her giggles. Frank is Alice's long-time boyfriend; he's a year older than them and already fully immersed in the Auror Training Program.

"Don't read your love note out loud, it's too early for that," Evelyn complains, covering her ears for the effect. But, Alice is not listening to her table-mates anymore; she's reading her letter eagerly. Lily face is creased with lines of worry behind her _Prophet._ "How bad is it?"

"The attacks are getting worse." She sighs, seeing her friends' distressed faces and assures them no one they know has been hurt or killed. "But you might want to check it, Elaine, you know more people in the Wizarding World than I do. A Muggleborn and their whole family have been… massacred, though." Her eyes are watery and she can't stop thinking about if this had been her. It could have easily been her. At least before term, here she's safe, though her family isn't.

* * *

Farther down the table, James is reading the same newspaper as Lily. Sirius looks at his friend with a grim expression.

"No one we know?"

"No," James whispers to him. Sirius sighs in relief. James is thinking along the same lines as Lily, what if it had been her? James didn't know what he would do. He certainly doesn't know how he could live after she was gone. Sirius leans over to read what was making James so distressed. He catches sight of the Muggleborn Massacre article.

"Evans?" James nods slightly, his face scrunched up in pain. Sirius glances up the table at the aforementioned ginger with concern. He then leans over the table to Remus. "We need a prank, quick. Prongs needs it." The scrawny boy nods, looking over their friend, who is staring at his plate. "Prongsie" Sirius gets his attention "We need to start planning our back-to-school prank." James smiles weakly at this and throws himself into planning and tries to stop worrying; she's safe here. Sirius can see James is trying, but he can also see his heart's just not in it.

When he finally found his friend the night before, he was smoking and leaning against a goalpost on the Quidditch Pitch.

_"Prongs!" Sirius approaches his friend quickly. The smoke from James's cigarette curls upward into the sky. Noticing his friend's attitude, his questions die on his lips. He just leans on the goalpost with his best mate, smoking with him. His intent was to make sure James didn't smoke the whole pack by taking a few himself._

_ "He left me everything," James mutters._

_ "_Everything_? That plus all of your dad's things is almost as much as all the Blacks' wealth together!" Sirius gasps._

_ "He always said I was his favorite grandson. Plus, you know how he feels about my dad." James's dad and James's grandfather didn't get on well; so, in his will, James's grandfather left him everything save a few personal gifts to friends and to James's mother, his daughter-in-law, Calliope Potter. Sirius pats his friend's back and tells him to buck up._

_ "It's a new year! Think of all the great pranks that we'll implement!" James nods, but his expression remains impassive. To anyone else, he would simply look uninterested, but Sirius can see the pain swimming in his eyes and tenseness in his jaw because he was grinding his teeth._

_ "Summer was shit, Sirius, such shit." James's voice quavers like a small child's._

_ "I know, mate, I know." Sirius pats James's shoulder comfortingly_

_ "I just want to put it behind me." He sighs._

_ "You will, Prongs." Sirius tries to assert the fact_

_ "Will I? What about Lily?"_

_ "What _about _Evans?" Sirius is confused by this new direction._

_ "Let's be real here, she's never going to love me. I might as well…" James doesn't want to say those two words. He doesn't want to give up. He can't. But, for some reason, he feels like he must._

* * *

"Oi, Potter!" A small, Indian girl calls out to the Quidditch Captain. It's the Tuesday of the first week of the school year.

"Kianni, what is it?" He turns around and addresses the fifth year.

"When are try-outs?" She asks.

"Monday, you're trying out? I have an empty post of Keeper which could really use your skills." She grins, nodding "I'm not guaranteeing anything, it all depends on what I see on Monday, good luck." Kianni had tried out for both Beater and Seeker last year, as those were the only open slots. James immediately saw that her skills would be better used as a Keeper, but he already had a seventh year at that post, who was more experienced than the then-fourth-year.

"Thanks, James!" James turns back to his friends and continues eating his breakfast.

"Try-outs are on Monday?" Sirius reiterates.

"Yep, I signed us up yesterday after lessons. I'll tell Roger, you tell Evelyn."

"Git, you just don't want to go near Lily!" Sirius accuses; instead of answering, James goes to tell Roger Marshall, a Beater, when try-outs are.

"You better go tell Evelyn or she'll get pissy at you later," Remus muses.

"Shut it, Moony," Sirius spits, but stands anyway and heads up the table to the girls. "Hell_o_ ladies." Evelyn rolls her eyes. Katrina snorts into her drink.

"Hey Sirius." Elaine laughs

"Why, may I ask, are you _gracing _us with your presence?" Lily wonders sarcastically.

"For our resident blonde, actually." Evelyn looks up sharply

"What do you want, Black?"

"James told me to let you know that try-outs are on Monday and if you wish to still be a part of the team, you must attend." Evelyn nods curtly, letting him know he can leave, but, of course, he doesn't. "So how are you ladies?" Lily rolls her eyes.

"I'm fantabulous, thanks for asking, Sirius," Elaine tells him.

"Who'd you snog?" he asks, supporting his head with palms and batting his eyelashes comically.

"Davey Gudgeon," she reveals slyly. "You know me so well."

"I've known you since forever, Elaine. The Crouches are the Not-Death Eater pureblood family that my family approves of." The Blacks are strict blood purists and not very nice about it. That's a kind way to put it. They often indulge in the Dark Arts as a solution. The Crouches were also the closest pureblood family in London; that resulted in many play-dates between Elaine, Sirius and Regulus. All the other girls around them grimace at the mention of Voldemort's followers.

"Where's Alice?" he asks, finally noticing the missing member.

"She had dinner early and left, I don't know where or why," Lily informs the Marauder. Sirius leaves and Katrina stares determinedly at the table. "What's wrong, Katrina?"

"Could _I _try-out for the Quidditch team?" she mumbles.

"Yeah… why couldn't you?" Evelyn asks the blunt question.

"Well." She clears her throat uncomfortably. "At Salem, girls were _encouraged away_ from sports." All the girls gasp accordingly.

"That's rubbish." Elaine pats the girl on the shoulder. "If you haven't ever played before, I suggest training with James or Sirius before try-outs."

* * *

Later that day, Alice is sitting in her bed, writing yet another letter to Frank. She's worried about him. The Ministry is running low on Aurors and she's concerned they might use the new recruits. Alice doesn't want him on the field. She doesn't want him in danger. She hasn't told him yet. She hasn't told him how much he means to her. She keeps trying to write it in one of those letters, but she can't word it right. Alice hasn't told Frank that she loves him. She hasn't told him and he might die any day. It's tearing her apart. She balls up the parchment and throws it at the door as it opens.

"Ali?" She sees James in the doorway.

"How did you get _up _here?! The staircase is charmed! You know what – never mind – I don't want to know." All other four beds are abandoned, as her dorm-mates are all at dinner.

"Are you alright? Have you seen the paper?" James comes and sits next to her on her four-poster-bed.

"Fine and yes I have." James looks at her skeptically. "I'm worried about Frank," she admits.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he proposes.

"It's almost curfew," she points out needlessly.

"We'll bring the Map." The Marauder's Map is the Marauder's prized creation, showing everyone in Hogwarts, where they are, what they're doing, at every minute of every day.

"_Fine_," she agrees and they leave. They run into Lily in the Common Room.

"Where are you guys going?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at James. He immediately shuts down and stares blankly at a spot above her head.

"We're going for a walk," Alice answers because she sees James's reaction to Lily. The ginger nods and goes to study on the couch.

* * *

James and Alice walk back into the Common Room late that night, having spent most of it wandering the halls with the Marauder's Map. Alice feels much better now, even though she's still scared for Frank. James pauses before they reach the stairwells.

"Are you coming, James?" she asks quietly.

"I'll be up in a bit, go get some rest, you'll need it." Alice nods, a smile tugging at her lips when she sees a certain red-head asleep on the couch. She tucks herself behind the stairwell and watches James interact with the sleeping Head Girl. He told her of his plan to give up on Lily. She scoffed at him.

A book lies open on her chest; he places her bookmark on the open page, closes the book and places it on the floor by the couch. He transfigures the lumpy Common Room pillow into a much more comfortable alternative and summons a blanket from his room. James tucks the blanket around her tenderly and kisses her forehead. Never has Alice seen James like this, not in all the years she's known him. He sits for a few moments by Lily's side, watching her sleep; the rise and fall of her chest, the serene look that only ever graces her features when she sleeps. Her hair is mussed, her legs are pulled to her chest and her cheeks are squished in quite an unattractive manner, but James couldn't think of a moment in which she looked more beautiful because she always looks beautiful to him. All sorts of emotions swim in his hazel eyes, the most prominent, love. And in that moment Alice finally understands why James _can't_ just give up on Lily. You simply can't give up on someone who you love truly and completely.


	4. Serendipity

**I can never thank her enough, my amazing Beta Jane. LOVE YOU! Also, thank you all for reading and reviewing, it keeps me going!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Serendipity

Katrina approaches James Potter cautiously; she looked everywhere for Sirius, but couldn't find him, so she has resorted to asking James instead.

"Excuse me?" He turns confusedly, not recognizing the low voice.

"Yes?" James observes the small girl, who wears too much eyeliner, with curiosity.

"Hi, I'm Katrina Mace. I'm new here." She sticks out her hand, her nerves gone after seeing James's friendly face.

"Yeah, Sirius told me about you. He didn't tell me that you're American, though. I'm James Potter." He shakes her hand and smiles.

"Sirius told me about you as well." She smirks knowingly.

"Did he now? Were they good things?" He asks, an arrogant grin spreading across his face.

"Mostly." She smirks. How could Lily hate this guy? He seems like so much fun! "Anyway, the reason I came over here was to ask you if you wouldn't mind training me a bit for Quidditch Tryouts?" Her face looks so hopeful, he almost says yes immediately.

"I'll need to ask Madam Hooch if it would be okay. I don't know if it's allowed, as I'm Captain, but I'll get back to you on that." Katrina seems a bit put-out by his answer, but she nods anyway.

"Thanks, James. Sirius was right. You _are _pretty awesome… and hot too. I don't see what Lily has a problem with." She winks and walks back over to her friends.

"Had fun talking to James?" Elaine laughs.

"How can Lily hate him so much? I barely talked to him five minutes and I already love him!" Katrina marvels.

"Lily's just stubborn and she doesn't _hate _him, at least, not anymore." Elaine amends her comment, remembering fifth year with a scowl. "They were both such prats in fifth year, though. Ugh, I could barely stand it, being friends with both of them."

"Both of who?" Lily sits down at the foot of Elaine's armchair.

"Don't play dumb, Ginger, you know very well who." Lily blushes.

"He was a prat and I couldn't stand it." Lily points out matter-of-factly.

"_Was?_" Katrina prompts, smirking at Lily with Elaine.

"You guys are hopeless. Just shag and get it over with." Evelyn rolls her eyes behind her Arithmancy textbook. The ginger in question blushes, if possible, deeper.

"I have Transfiguration homework to do. Don't you have to ask Sirius for Quidditch training?" Lily sneers at Katrina.

"I already asked James," Katrina tells her happily, only causing Lily to scowl further. She stands haughtily and stalks back up to their dormitory, muttering to herself. Evelyn is the only one of her friends who misses James following Lily with his eyes, a new determination there.

The Portrait Hole opens with a BANG, making everyone inside jump. A very smug Sirius Black comes striding into the Common Room. He strides over to the girls, noticing them before his best mate.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" Elaine asks noticing the mischievous glint in his eye.

"What look, Elaine, my dearest?" He innocently bats his eyes.

"Oh please, I've barely known you three days and know that look means trouble. Spill," Katrina commands him. He sighs dramatically and begins his story, but is interrupted by James tackling him.

"Paddy!"

"What? I was telling these wonderful ladies of my adventures!" Sirius grumbles loudly.

"You can tell them – and me – of your adventures later. Now, you need to come with me to the dorm for a super-secret Marauders meeting." James is practically bouncing in excitement.

"After we find Remus and Pete."

"We're here." Remus and Peter file in through the still-open Portrait Hole.

"Excellent!" James pulls them all up the stairs. Alice is the last to come through the Portrait Hole, closing it behind her.

"Where are they going in such a rush?" she asks the girls.

"A 'super-secret Marauders meeting'." Elaine rolls her eyes.

"I see… where's Lily?"

"She went up to her dorm, after we teased her about James." Katrina smirks.

"C'mon guys, you _know _she hates that. I want her with James as much as you guys do, but we need to let her make the decision herself. She won't do it if we push her. She's stubborn," Alice chides them, clearly annoyed and hurries up to Lily's Head Girl dorm.

* * *

"Prongs, what is this all about?" Sirius crosses his arms over his chest.

"I'm back in business!" When he sees his friends' expressions he elaborates."Lily says I _was _a prat!"

"Okay… I don't see how that's good," Peter mumbles.

"_Was_, as in, I'm not anymore!" James corrects him, practically beaming.

"I thought you said you weren't going to… go after Lily anymore," Remus chides his friend. James lowers his gaze, a little bit of the light gone from his eyes.

"This summer made me lose my faith, but its back and Lily doesn't hate me anymore!"

"She never said that," Sirius mutters; James decidedly ignores that comment.

* * *

Lily sits in her bed, snuggling with the blanket she found on herself this morning. She once again thanks Merlin for the fact that the Heads get their own rooms; the staircase leading up to their shared, mini-Common Room, called the Heads Office, was simply there between the girls' stair case and the boys' on the first day of school. There are three doors in it, one leading up from the stairwell (which is password-activated – _fancy_), one leading into James's room and one leading into Lily's. She woke early and found that someone had transfigured the pillow to be more comfortable and that she had a blanket draped over her. She couldn't believe it. Naturally, she's very curious as to _who _did it; she recognizes the scent lingering on the blanket, but can't place it. It's a musky _and _fresh smell; a mix of Quidditch Turf, fire, and some sort of cologne. She sighs and decides to work on her Transfiguration homework, like she told her friends she would, instead of pondering this Mystery-Comfort-Giver.

"Whatcha got there?" Lily starts at the sound of Alice's voice; she didn't hear her come in.

"My Transfiguration homework." Lily holds up the parchment.

"No, silly, the blanket." Alice rolls her eyes at her friend, coming to inspect it herself. She's fighting off a smile, seeing Lily cuddle with James's blanket.

"Oh, well, I fell asleep on a couch in the Common Room last night and woke up with this on top of me." Lily shrugs. Alice sits next to the ginger on her bed.

"That's sweet. Whoever did that must really like you." Alice nudges her suggestively.

"I guess." Lily shrugs again, blushing to her hairline. "I dunno, maybe they're just a really good person."

"Or maybe." Alice snatches the blanket from Lily's grasp. "Both." She smirks as Lily blushes even more furiously.

"Give it back." Lily pouts. Alice laughs and throws the blanket in her face.

"Let's finish our Transfiguration homework." Alice chuckles, summoning her own supplies from her dorm.


	5. Fit Persons

**How many times can I thank Jane and my readers? A LOT. SO THANKS. Also Chapter 4 has had a minor edit describing the Head Dorms in more detail. I suggest reading it. Also, at the end of Chapter 1 will be found the link to my collection of pictures for this fic. Yes, I know I'm a dweeb. **

* * *

Chapter 5: Fit Persons

Lily normally suffers from insomnia, but ever since James gave her his blanket, she has slept like a baby. The once early-riser is now the last, well second to last after Elaine, to wake. Alice has already woken Lily, as she had to go to her Head Girl dorm room. The interaction went something like this.

_Alice walks into the room, after murmuring the password and sees a very asleep Lily. Alice smirks at Lily's sleeping form, which is still cuddling James's blanket. Alice rips the blanket off of her sleeping friend in a vicious fashion one would not imagine from such a nice girl._

_"Merlin!" Lily shivers; pulling her legs into her chest and tucks them under her oversized T-shirt._

_"Good Morning, Lily! I was going to let you sleep, but it's almost half-way through breakfast and you told me to wake you up if you weren't already awake!" Alice is enjoying her new chore much more than should be allowed._

_"Give me back my blanket!" Lily whines groggily._

_"Yours, do you mean the one of your Mysterious-Comfort-Giver?" Alice muses, running James's blanket through her hands. _

_"Yes, now give the dammed thing to me!" Alice laughs and throws it across the room. "Fuck you," Lily spits. Alice blows her a kiss. _

_"I'm only doing what you asked me to do," Alice responds innocently. With much grumbling and various swears, Lily does get out of bed, gets dressed and, after smacking Alice on the shoulder and telling her never again to wake her, goes down to breakfast._

Alice looks around her own room and sees her three friends asleep, sighs, and raises her wand, summoning all of their blankets and subjecting them to the cold of the Scottish morning. She opens the curtains, letting in the autumn sun.

"Gah – wha?" Elaine mumbles, shielding her eyes from the sun, her camisole crinkling with her movement. Katrina groans and does the same, her abnormally fluffy pajamas keeping her warm.

"Alice Marilyn Fortescue, I will personally murder you in various grotesque ways," Evelyn growls and begrudgingly gets out of her bed to take a shower.

"Good Morning to all of you as well," Alice answers sweetly. "C'mon now, up we get!" All the girls groan, except Evelyn who is too busy glaring at the strawberry-blonde exiting their dorm's bathroom. She is fully dressed, her make-up on and her hair down in obviously styled waves. No one knows how she does all of that, as Allison Elroy is blind.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" she chirps, as if she can see the girls' disheveled states.

"Quite," Alice answers curtly. Elaine snaps to attention as the tension in the room builds. Allison's smile becomes tight-lipped when she sees that Lily's old bed is now being slept in by Katrina, another reminder that Lily got Head Girl instead of her. Allison nods curtly and struts out of their dorm. Elaine climbs out of bed, no longer tired, and puts her clothes on quickly.

"Let's go down, Katrina, wanna come? Or are you gonna wait for Evelyn?" Elaine addresses their still-sleepy friend.

"Evelyn," Katrina tells them, falling back onto her pillow. Alice laughs at the pathetic nature of her friends in the morning. Elaine and Alice walk down the breakfast together, not talking, but walking in a comfortable silence. They are about to sit down at the Gryffindor table when someone taps Elaine on the shoulder. She twists around in confusion and sees the Ravenclaw 7th year known as Scott Stebbins, all his friends call him Stebbins; Merlin knows why.

"Elaine?" he shifts around his feet awkwardly.

"Yeah?" she narrows her eyes, what does he want with _her? _

"The – er – first Hogsmeade trip is next weekend and – erm – I was wondering…" Scott gulps "Iwaswonderingifyouwantedtogowithme?" He speaks very quickly and sighs in relief when he's done.

"What?" Elaine's eyes bug out. She understood him very well, she has a habit of speaking much too fast, but she doesn't quite believe what she's hearing. An attractive, funny, smart, _popular _person wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her?

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade… with me?" His big, brown eyes are warily hopeful. He is Quidditch Captain and Beater. He has cauldrons-full of friends, is liked by most everybody. And he _had _a girlfriend of two years, Florence Reardon, but apparently they broke up as he's asking her out. Elaine realizes that she's been simply staring at the boy and his floppy blonde hair for a while and should probably answer him.

"Yeah, yeah, of course I'd like to go." She smiles genuinely at him and he grins right back at her.

"See ya then." He waves slightly and walks back to the Ravenclaw table. Elaine turns back around in her seat and sits, staring at her plate for a bit.

"Elaine, don't freak out. He's just a boy." Alice tries to bring her out of her trance.

"Shouldn't you be happy?" Lily asks from across the table. "Hell, if someone as fit as Scott Stebbins asked me out, I'd be joyful." This snaps Elaine out of it; she never misses an opportunity to tease Lily.

"I'd say James is just as fit, maybe even more, than Stebbins, wouldn't you say, Alice?"

"I would say, even though that's my brother you're talking about and-" Alice makes a gagging sound. James, Sirius and Alice often refer to each other as brother and sister. Lily blushes, fumbling with her fork and stuffing a chuck of waffle into her mouth to save her from having to respond. Evelyn and Katrina arrive at the table just then.

"What did you say to get Lily so flustered, Elaine?" Katrina notices Lily's awkwardness.

"Well, she brought it upon herself by saying that she'd be joyful if someone as fit as Scott Stebbins asked her out, which I then had to comment on the fact that James is quite as fit, if not more." Elaine brushes her hands off, smiling in her victory.

"Lily, James is much hotter than Stebbins, puh-_leaze_." Katrina smirks as Lily hides her face in her _Prophet. _'She knows it's true.' She mouths to Elaine and Alice, who giggle in agreement.

* * *

A cool autumnal breeze tickles Katrina's face as she and James walk out onto the Quidditch Pitch.

"So, did you play Quidditch at Salem?" James asks her.

"No," she scoffs . "Quidditch was reserved for the _men_ of Salem. It wasn't _strictly_ No Girls Allowed, but if a girl tried out, she'd be shunned and ridiculed. Plus she'd never make it, despite her skills." Katrina seems very bitter about this point. "My own boyfriend of the time teased me when I mentioned trying out," she mumbles.

"Well that's just rubbish if you ask me. Half of my team last year was girls! Eliza, Sharon and I were Chasers. Roger and Sirius were Beaters. Seth was our Keeper and Evelyn was our Seeker. Now, Eliza, Seth and Sharon have graduated, so we'll need a new Keeper and two new Chasers. Hopefully _you'll_ take one of the Chaser positions this year. I'll find another new Chaser and Keeper. And let's hope everyone on last year's team kept up their game, otherwise I'll have to find _more _players to work with and that would be rather irritating." Katrina grins as James rambles on about Quidditch.

"James." He looks up. "Shouldn't we get started on training _me. _I need to actually be able to play before try-outs."

"Oh – Oh, yeah, right, sorry Katrina. So, you said you want to try for Chaser?" He refocuses on the American in front of him.

"Not exactly, _you_ said you wanted me to try for Chaser," Katrina corrects, laughing at James's antics.

"Er – right, well I just assumed, because of your body build and your reflexes that Chaser would be the best option for you…" he mumbles.

"You're the expert." James nods and begins explaining the role of the Chasers in Quidditch and how Katrina could reach her potential.

"Here's the Quaffle." He throws it at her. Katrina catches it with a slight "Oof."

"You will be trying to throw this ball into one of those three hoops over there." James motions to the three hoops on either side of the pitch.

"Okay…" She looks at the ball uncertainly.

"You get ten points each time you get it through one. None of the hoops are worth more than the other two." James continues on his general run-down of the game with Katrina listening eagerly to his explanation.

They practice for hours, mostly without the Quaffle. After James's first introduction, he put it away and started training her physically; making her run countless laps, do an unlimited number of push-ups, curl-ups and other excruciating exercises, all while barking things like "C'mon Mace, you can do better than that!" or "What was that? Go again!" "Again, Mace!" "AGAIN!" until Katrina was so exhausted, she could barely move.

"James," Katrina gasps. "I can't do this anymore." She's wheezing with the effort of standing up. "It's been five _hours _can we _please _go back inside?" she begs him. He checks his watch and jumps.

"Bloody hell! I'm going to be late for rounds! Dammit, Lily's going to kill me! We're done for today, could you put this all away? I need to shower!" Katrina rolls her eyes, but nods. James doesn't even check to see if she agreed, sprinting over to the locker room.

"I need to shower too," she mutters, swiping at her sweaty forehead with her muddy hand.

* * *

James showers frantically and changes back into his school robes. He races back up to the castle, not even thinking to make sure that Katrina put the equipment back in the right place. He reaches the Common Room in record time, eyes wild and heart beating with adrenaline.

Everyone fears Lily Evans's terrifying rage, but especially James, as he was trying to get in her good graces. He nearly yells the password and runs inside. James looks around the Common Room, looking for the ginger, but doesn't find her, just Evelyn.

"Potter!" she calls, commanding his attention.

"Where's Lily?" He looks around again, bewildered.

"She sent me ahead to tell you she was going to be late for rounds and that you should start without her. There, my job is done. I'm going up to my dorm," Evelyn deadpans and then walks quickly up the stairs to her dormitory.

James lets out a huge sigh of relief and collapses on the only armchair that faces the Portrait Hole. Slowly, the adrenaline leaves his system and he can breathe normally again. He knows he supposed to start rounds without Lily, but he really doesn't want to move right about now.

"Potter!" her voice barks from the doorway.

"Hm?" He looks up from where he was resting to recover from his mad dash.

"Did Evelyn tell you-" He cuts her off.

"Yeah, yeah, she told me."

"Then why are you still here?" She only sounds minimally annoyed.

"I was waiting for you," he says as it is the simplest thing in the world and smiles at her crookedly.

"You're impossible, let's go, we're already late." He springs out of his seat with more energy than he had a minute ago. Lily does that to him.


	6. Love's Got You By the Throat

Chapter 6: Love's Got You By The Throat

James sits beside Lily in the Hospital Wing in the early hours of the morning. He thinks over the events of the night before with a grimace. He shakes his head and replays it in his mind.

* * *

_Everything had been going fantastically. Lily had only snapped at him once, because after they found a couple snogging in a broom closet, he suggested they find one of their own. They were almost done. The only place left to check was the dungeons. She was laughing at something he said, much to his surprise. A noise down the corridor stops both of them in their tracks. _

_ "I'll go check, you stay here," James tells her, she pouts, but agrees because of his firm voice. He walks down the corridor as quietly as possible. Soon, James can make out two figures, boys he thinks. He steps a little louder than he means to and both boys freeze. One, the scrawnier one, runs off down the hall. James runs toward them. _

_ "Potter, stop," the other boy orders. James spins on him, recognizing his voice. _

_ "Regulus, what are you doing out at this hour?" he snaps, annoyed with the escape of the other boy, the boy with trademark long, greasy hair. _

_ "You're one to talk." Sirius's younger brother snorts_

_ "I'm on rounds, because I'm Head Boy." Regulus nods._

_ "I know, I wasn't talking about tonight." The younger Black stares at James pointedly._

_ "What are you doing, Regulus?" James asks tiredly._

_ "Where's your partner? Don't you do rounds with another person?" Regulus is quickly getting worried. _

_ "Back there, I told her to stay there, while I checked this out." Regulus groans_

_ "It's not Evans, is it?" James nods slowly. "Shit."_

_ "What? What's wrong with Lily?" James is getting angry, if this is about her blood status, he was going to punch the Slytherin. Just then they hear shouts from the end of the corridor, several male, and one female, Lily. James snaps to attention and runs down the hall. _

_He finds several boys cornering the Head Girl. She's fighting them defiantly, but she's outnumbered four to one, plus they are all much bigger than her. Damian Mulciber grabs her by the throat and pushes her up against the wall. The other three surround them, Sebastian Avery on the right, Adrian Wilkes behind Mulciber and Evan Rosier the left. Lily is spluttering from the lack of oxygen. _

_ "Get off her!" James roars, not caring if the whole school hears. All four turn around in surprise. Mulciber drops Lily unceremoniously; she hits her head and falls unconscious. Now it was just James against four Wanna-Be-Death-Eaters. James is bigger than Lily, and he also has the benefit of anger based adrenaline. _

_ "Gotta problem, Potter?" Mulciber growls, closing in on James. He is too full of raw rage to be scared in the slightest about his situation. How dare they handle Lily like that?!_

_ "Actually, yeah I do," he says in a scarily calm voice. James sends the nastiest hexes he knows at them, while dodging and shielding himself from theirs. His nose is bleeding, but he doesn't care. He knocks Mulciber (the strongest both in physique and dueling ability) out cold. The other three look at each other is terror. James sends more curses at them, growling gutturally, sounding more like an animal than a man. Wilkes shrieks and runs off. A sickening crack signals the breaking of several Avery's ribs when James kicks him. Rosier flees, leaving his injured and unconscious friends. Avery winces when he moves, but staggers away, and shoots a spell behind his back, which hits Lily. James retaliates coldly, kicking the injured Slytherin over. Once they are all out of view, he immediately goes to Lily's side. He hears shuffling steps, but doesn't turn as Regulus kneels next to him. "You could've helped," James mutters._

_ "You seemed to be handling it," Regulus muses. James takes in the damage on Lily. _

_ "What the hell did they do to her? I can't heal it!" Due to his many trips during the full moon, he has become exceptional at Healing. Regulus grimaces._

_ "He used a spell one of us made up. Madam Pomfrey can't heal it, just as you can't." The boy who looks much too similar to Sirius for James's liking sighs. _

_ "Can you heal it?" James asks hopefully._

_"I…" Regulus seems to be having inner turmoil. He sighs, closing his eyes and answers. "I can."_

_ "Then do it!" James tells the younger boy frantically. Regulus nods and moves his hand an inch above Lily murmuring things as all of her cuts, at least the ones inflicted by that particular curse, heal slowly. "What about everything else?"_

_ "Madam Pomfrey can heal everything else."_

_ "Thanks Regulus." James sighs, picking up the red head, who is still unconscious at his feet._

_ "You're not to tell anyone of this. Not. One. Person," the Slytherin warns him._

_ "What about Lily? Sirius?"_

_ "Especially not those two." Regulus's face darkens and he levitates Mulciber's body. "Goodbye Potter, remember not to say a thing about my involvement. Gloss the story if you have to. You're creative; I know you can do it." With this, Regulus walks off in the direction the others took, Mulciber's limp body bumping around behind him. After that, it wasn't too hard to get Lily to the Hospital Wing, she's not too heavy and James was still running on adrenaline._

* * *

James has been sitting by her bedside ever since. He even made Madam Pomfrey treat him in the chair next to her bed. He doesn't know what he plans to do. Should he tell Lily? Should he tell Sirius? What the hell were they doing down there anyway?! Should he go to Dumbledore? James puts his face in his hands and groans loudly. Lily shifts in her sleep; Madam Pomfrey easily healed all of her wounds, but she has to stay here until Breakfast finishes this morning. They don't have classes today; it's Saturday.

The morning passes excruciatingly slowly and James still hasn't decided anything. Madam Pomfrey doesn't ask many questions, but his friends sure will. Maybe he should tell Dumbledore and only Dumbledore, the old man can keep a secret, right? Lily begins to stir around the time that Breakfast usually starts.

"Wha – Potter?" Too late. The time for deciding had passed. The time for action has come.

"Hello, sleepyhead." He puts on a fake grin.

"What happened? Last thing I remember…" She trails off shuddering, getting right to the point.

"Do you, by chance, mean after those bastards abused you?" The rage seeps back into his system with the memory.

"I provoked them-" James cuts her off savagely.

"What? Do you think they'd have just let you go?" He laughs coldly.

"Potter," Lily warns him, scared of the crazed look in his hazel eyes. "What happened after Mulciber dropped me?" she presses him for information.

"You hit your head on the ground and blacked out. Then I beat those four to pulps. And then I brought you here." James doesn't elaborate, not wanting to think about it too much; his own rage scaring him. It scares him to know he can feel that way, especially over a girl. He'd like to think he'd be that way over any of his friends, but he knows he probably could've kept a cool head if it had been any of them, instead of Lily. James takes several deep breaths before looking back at her.

"And you're…fine?" Lily sounds half impressed, half intimidated.

"Madam Pomfrey already healed me; I had a bloody nose, a broken rib and dark magic wounds." He lifts his shirt so she can see the fading purple and green slashes across his torso. Lily lets out a small 'oh' sound and starts to move her hand to trace the wounds, but drops her hand when she realizes what she's doing. She wants to be mad at him; they are sworn enemies! But she can't be mad; he just saved her from four large Slytherins.

"I could've dealt with them on my own, Potter," she huffs.

"Yeah you looked completely in control when I came in, you know, being held by the throat." James laughs sarcastically. Let's be realistic, she couldn't have dealt with that on her own, but there's no way in hell she was going to admit that to James.

"You're the one who left me by myself!" she argues.

"I thought it would be safer for you there! Obviously I was wrong, but I came through, didn't I?" Lily doesn't have a cutting response to that, so she just glares at him. "Fine, whatever, you don't have to appreciate my saving you, I don't care!" He clearly does and they both know it. James storms from the Hospital Wing and heads to the Head Master's office to tell Dumbledore about the events of last night.

* * *

**A/N: I did a thing :) Tell me if you get the title of this chapter. Gosh, I'm terrible. THANKS FOLLOWERS, READERS, FAVORITES AND MY AMAZING BETA JANE!**


	7. That's All They Are Now, Stories

**A/N: YAY two chapters in one day! Seriously though, look at the pictures, I put work into them. **

* * *

Chapter 7: That's All They Are Now, Stories

"Hey Mar!" Kianni calls out to her blonde best friend. She is taller than most girls, which is why it's strange to see them together; Kianni's petite and curvy and Marlene's tall and thin.

"'Lo Kianni." Marlene McKinnon sits in the Common Room reading. Kianni plops down next to her on the couch.

"Are you going to try out for the Quidditch Team? Try-outs are on Monday; it's in two days."

"Hell yes! Now that mum's divorced Dave-The-Git, I can try out, instead of 'focusing on my studies'." Marlene scoffs with distain, remembering her step-dad. "Fuck him; I'm trying out for Chaser." Kianni laughs

"You tell him, Marley! Yay! We might be on the team together!" Kianni claps her hands excitedly.

"DID I HEAR YOU SAY YOU WERE TRYING OUT FOR THE TEAM THIS YEAR, MARLEY?" Sirius yells from his place across the room. All the pureblood children would have play-dates when they were little because, unlike muggle children, they are all home-schooled, if they are schooled at all. The Fortescues, The McKinnons and The Potters all live near each other; they are the only magical families in the area. Sirius would hang out with Marlene and Alice whenever he was over at James's. As of now, Sirius and Marlene aren't close friends, but they have mutual friends and are therefore friendly.

"YEAH YOU DID, ALSO WOULD YOU MIND NOT EAVESDROPPING, YOU PRAT?" Sirius only chuckles in response and comes over to talk.

"Thank Merlin; I thought we'd have to actually _train _someone this year. I also heard you say your mum divorced Dave-The-Git." He grins at the cruel nickname for Marlene's ex-step-dad.

"She did." Marlene can't hide the evil grin that flashes across her face at this. She really hated that man.

"How're the sibs dealing with it?"

"Erick is the only one truly sad about it, him and The Git always got along swimmingly, what with both of them being huge twats." Erick is Marlene's fifteen year old brother, who is in Ravenclaw. "Abbi is almost as happy as I am." Abbi is her Slytherin sister, who's in third year. "Annabelle is remaining impassive, as to not upset mum, but she's also joyful." Annabelle is Abbi's twin sister. She's a Hufflepuff and acts like it.

"What about Will, does he know yet?" Sirius asks about Marlene's oldest brother, he's twenty.

"Will is taking Annabelle's stand point, bloody 'Puffs, but only in front of mum, behind her back, he could dance an Irish-jig." The three laugh at this, imagining the tall man dancing ridiculously.

"Your mum was always a sensible woman, I'm glad she realized how gitty he really is. 'Focusing on your studies'," Sirius scoffs. "What was the bloke thinking? He doesn't know a thing about Hogwarts, what with him being a muggle. Why did he think Quidditch would take away from your precious education?"

"I dunno, I'm just glad he's out of my life now."

"Hey, Sirius!" A low, feminine voice calls out to the Gryffindor from the foot of the stairs.

"Yes, Kitty-Kat?" The two girls snort and they hear a groan from behind them.

"Do me two favors, Black." Katrina comes into the view of the sixth and fifth year. Sirius sweeps his eyes over her whole body; he has yet to see her in normal wear, as she's been subjected to the uniform robes all week. She's wearing a light leather jacket, olive green skinny jeans and black combat boots.

"Yes?" Sirius bats his eyelashes innocently.

"_Don't _call me Kitty-Kat and introduce me to your friends." The American flops down in an armchair next to the couch occupied by the younger students.

"Alright Kat, this is Marlene McKinnon, a pureblood sixth year-" Katrina cuts him off.

"I don't give a damn about blood-status, dumbass, I'm muggleborn." Her jewel nose ring sparkles when she scrunches up her nose in disgust.

"Sorry, dear Kitty." She glares daggers at him. "_Kat_, and this is Kianni Patil, fifth year."

"Nice to meet you two, I'm Katrina Mace, transfer, seventh year." She shakes both girls' hands.

"Do you always wear black combat boots?" Kianni asks bluntly.

"I do," Katrina confirms, looking fondly at her favorite shoes. "I'm not trying to represent America or anything. I just like combat boots." Both girls look her over thoroughly; noting her crazy chocolate curls, her strong jaw, her tan skin, and her dark green eyes which are racooned in black eyeliner. The Portrait Hole opens and a girl with flat ironed dark brown hair, streaked with purple, strides over.

"Marlene, Kianni!" The aforementioned sixth and fifth years turn to the third member of their triumvirate, Dorcas Meadowes.

"Hey Dorky!" they greet her happily, moving over, so she can sit next to them on the couch. She stays standing and watches Katrina suspiciously.

"Who're you?" She takes in Katrina's attire. "And why're you dressed like a punk hoe?"

"My name's Katrina Mace and I'm _not _dressed like a punk hoe! Sorry if you don't approve of my sense of style,_Dorky_." This is the first time Sirius has ever seen Katrina act hostile to anyone, she's always been fun and wild, as long as he's known her.

"_Dorcas _Meadowes," the sixth year responds coldly. The other three are frozen, not quite sure how the tension arose so quickly or how to deal with it. "C'mon you two." Dorcas motions for her two best friends to follow her up to the sixth year girl's dormitory.

"Sorry about Dorcas, she's a little hostile," Marlene apologizes. "Fantastic meeting you, Katrina." She and Kianni wave goodbye and follow Dorcas. Katrina sighs once they are out of sight.

"She's right, I _am _a punk hoe," she murmurs to herself, tugging her boots off her feet.

"Hey," Sirius commands her attention. "You are _not _a punk hoe. Plus, I like your outfit."

"Thanks Sirius, but you've only known me for about a week." Katrina puts her feet up in her armchair, slumping her body so her legs fit over.

"Hey Kat." Sirius catches her attention once more, stalling her pity-party.

"Yeah?" She looks up from her lap.

"Why do you have so many of those around your ankle?" He points to the many thread anklets around Katrina's ankle. She smiles impishly when he does.

"One for each school I've been kicked out of made in that school's color. From muggle elementary to magical boarding school. This one is from Salem." She pulls at a spiraling violet, maroon and forest green anklet.

"Merlin, how did you get kicked out of so many schools in your short seventeen years?"

"It was a different way each time. I like to be creative. As a kid, I couldn't control the magic I didn't know I had, so that resulted in many expulsions. It only got worse and more frequent after-" Katrina cuts off abruptly, clearly hitting a painful subject.

"After what?" Sirius prods gently.

"After my mother died in third grade." She gulps, eyes becoming misty.

"I would say I'm sorry, but I know it probably wouldn't sound genuine. So, I won't." Katrina nods slightly at his little speech.

"Anyway, my personal favorite was when I blew up an entire playground in a fit of anger. My dad built the school a new, better playground so we wouldn't get sued. I did get expelled, though." She breezes past the emotional moment with the funny story.

"Damn Kitty-Kat, I'd like to hear more of these expulsion stories some time." He grins at her lopsidedly.

"Sirius Black, you will never hear another one, because I will kill you and all of your family members if you call me that name again," Katrina deadpans with an undercurrent of an actual threat. Sirius's face falters at the mention of his family, but soon is right back on his feet, metaphorically. Sirius is much too comfortable to actual move at this moment.

"You said you like James!" he protests.

"You and James are brothers?" Katrina scrunches up her nose in confusion, her nose ring glittering.

"Basically, my original family is all blood-purists and Death Eaters. My friends are my real family." Sirius shrugs, staring defiantly at her, as if daring her to feel sorry for him.

"I'm sorry, I – I didn't know," she stutters out before she could stop herself. It was a reflex of courtesy taught to her at an early age. Feel empathy. If you don't, pretend you do.

"Don't be, I love my friends more than I'd have ever loved my family." He waves her off. The Portrait Hole opens once more, this time admitting an angered James Potter. "Prongs!" James stops and turns slowly towards his best mate's voice, trying to calm down. He realized halfway to Dumbledore's office that he should probably change into clean clothes and freshen up a bit before talking to his Headmaster. "What's got your wand in a knot?"

"Lily; I'll tell you the full story later." James winces, then again, maybe not the _full _full story. "But right now, I need a change of clothes and to talk to our Headmaster. Hey Katrina, practice today after I meet with Dumbledore?" He says it as a question, but it's meant as a statement. Katrina nods, though still confused by his earlier comments. James then quickly walks up the stairs.

"What _is _it with those two?" Katrina mutters, her own self-pity completely forgotten.

"I stopped trying to understand them ages ago," Sirius responds, glancing up the stairwell, the small crease in his brow the only indication of his concern.


	8. Besotted oh and Quidditch

Chapter 8: Besotted… oh and Quidditch

Bloody James Potter with his bloody knight-in-shining-armor tactics; he thinks because since he's _so _damn _brilliant _at saving the day that that might change Lily's answer. Well she's here to say hell no to that. She doesn't need him to come to her aid; she can handle herself. _Stupid prat._ Lily mutters to herself all the way from the Hospital Wing to the Common Room.

"_There_ you are. I was starting to get worried," Katrina remarks upon Lily's entry. Lily waves her off and starts to climb the stairs to her Head Girl dormitory. "With all of James's muttering, I thought he'd thrown you off the Astronomy Tower." Lily starts to fume at the mention of James. Elaine meets Katrina's eyes with a panic.

"Why're you still in your clothes from last night?" Elaine notes suspiciously, changing the subject. Lily doesn't know if she should tell them yet and if she does, definitely not here where anyone can over-hear.

"I slept in them and forgot to change out when I went to the Library this morning," she lies easily _and _creates an alibi if they cared to ask where she's been all morning. Before they have the chance to further question her, Lily hurries up to her dorm once again glad that the Heads get their own dormitories.

After closing the door behind her, Lily flops face first onto her bed, inhaling the comforting scent of Mystery-Comfort-Giver. She cries into the blanket about yesterday and this morning. Why did she have to be such a brat all the time? Why couldn't she just thank Potter and be done with it? He was Head Boy, she was Head Girl, they were going to have to deal with each other this year whether she liked it or not. She dries her wet eyes on the amazing fluffiness that was the Mystery-Comfort-Giver's blanket.

Except… wait a minute, she recognizes that smell as more than just the blanket. She starts when she finally recognizes the scent. After all she was surrounded by it all morning. Of course it would be James. Lily immediately flings it off her bed as if it were contaminated. She charms it to fold itself and stares at it; the red and gold material settling down on her floor. Her gaze, though mostly of disdain, holds a hint of exasperated gratitude towards the Head Boy. Lily doesn't want to admit it, but being enveloped in the Essence of James made her sleep better. Bloody James Potter's blanket helped her sleep. Fuck. Now she understood every coy glance thrown her way by Alice. Of course Alice knew it was James's blanket, but she didn't care to tell poor Lily. She was probably too busy laughing at her behind her back. _Merlin, _she was going to kill Alice Marilyn Fortescue.

"Lily, are you okay?" Speak of the devil. Lily glares at the door as it opens slightly and the round face of Alice Fortescue sticks in. She yelps when the blanket hits her full in the face.

"You can give that back to your brother. I don't want it anymore," Lily deadpans. Alice closes her eyes and curses in her head. She should've known not to keep up that charade too long. If Alice hadn't felt so bad; she got the synopsis of what happened last night out of James, she would've prodded Lily further. But, since she _did _feel guilty, she let it go, took the blanket and dropped it in the Head Boy's dormitory.

* * *

"Thank you for informing me of this event, Mr. Potter." James sits across from Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office and has just finished retelling the attack of last night. "I trust Miss Evans is in the Hospital Wing?" James nods, flinching slightly at the mention of Lily.

"She's being released after Breakfast, sir."

"Speaking of Breakfast, I should probably get to it. Good thing you caught me before I left, Mr. Potter. Thank you again and now, I would suggest that we both go eat." Dumbledore stands up from behind his desk, motioning for James to follow suite.

"If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd like to return to the Common Room."

"Of course, after you." Dumbledore opens the door for James, who graciously goes through. Then, James walks in the opposite direction of the Headmaster, going up instead of down.

"Mate, where've you been all morning? I only saw you briefly at the beginning when I was talking to Katrina," Sirius prods when he sees James enter the Common Room.

"I told you, I was in Dumbledore's office. Where _is_ Katrina?"

"I'm here!" The American calls from the bottom of the steps.

"Excellent, are you ready?"

"Um, sorry James, but Lily is forcing me to study with her. Can we do it after lunch?" The aforementioned ginger appears out of the gloom of the stairwell behind Katrina.

"Yeah, yeah, after lunch is… after lunch is fine."

"Alrighty, see you then!" Katrina and Lily walk past James and Sirius to the Portrait Hole; Katrina waving at them both, Lily glowering at James. James acts like it didn't bother him at all, he brushes it off as it were nothing, but Sirius can see him grit his teeth. James stomps rather loudly up to his dorm and finds his blanket folded in a neat pile on his bed with a note on top in Alice's familiar handwriting.

_James,_

_ Here's your blanket back. Lily finally figured out who it was from. Dunno why it took so long. She seemed kind of sad to let it go. But that might have just been because she was crying… into it. Don't tell her I told you that. I'm already on her hit list._

_ -Alice_

* * *

Katrina arrives at the Try-outs for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team more prepared than she thought she could be. But, she was still nervous as hell. Some of these people have been playing Quidditch all their life. She barely knew the game until recently. Katrina tries to even out her shallow breathing.

"Hey, Katrina!" She spins around much too quickly in surprise when someone calls out her name. She finds out that it's just Marlene McKinnon walking up to the pitch with Kianni Patil. Phew.

"Hi Marlene, Kianni, trying out?" Both girls nod and Katrina gulps. Both look quite at ease in their Quidditch gear and on the pitch. Katrina feels her palms begin to sweat and it has nothing to do with the heavy gloves she's wearing. "What position?"

"Chaser," Marlene answers. Well shit. Competition. And she was just getting to like Marlene.

"Keeper," Kianni responds happily. God damn, both girls seem to know _exactly _what they're doing!

"GRYFFINDOR!" James commands our attention; every one of the people present immediately turns to where he's hover above them on his broom. He lowers slowly and once he sets foot on the ground, he begins explanation of how try-outs are going to work. The Chasers are going to go first, thank_ Merlin_; then the Keepers. They only need those two positions; James has determined before try-outs that everyone who was on the team last year is still fit to play. James decides to go in alphabetical order, making Marlene and Katrina in the middle.

* * *

"Alright everyone, I saw some fine players out here today, so thank you for coming, the cut will be posted on the Bulletin Board in a couple days!" James dismisses everyone except for last year's team.

"James…" Katrina begins uncertainly, tapping his back.

"Hm? Oh, Katrina, I can't tell you if you made it or not yet." She pouts. "_But _you did some excellent flying out there today; we just need to see if it fits into our team dynamic." He motions to the rest of the team, who are waiting for him to discuss.

"Okay… well, see ya." He waves shortly and walks back over to his team. Katrina slumps slightly. What if she doesn't fit into the team's dynamic?! What _is _the team's dynamic! She's never even seen them play! How could she solve this riddle by herself! Damn James Potter.

* * *

"What do you guys think, Chaser-wise?" James lets his team have a say in the discussion.

"I think Kat did a pretty fab job," Sirius shares.

"I agree with Black, I think Katrina would fit in nicely. You two would work well together," Evelyn says, a rare moment of good nature coming over her.

"Okay, do we all agree that Mace is in?" James asks his three companions.

"What about McKinnon? I think she's better than Mace," Roger points out.

"McKinnon is faster and rasher than Mace, which can be good, but also disastrous. Mace is steadier, she considers her options more carefully, which is also good, but can lose us the game if she thinks too long," James considers.

"We _do_ need two Chasers," Sirius murmurs.

"Bell was good."

"McKinnon and Mace were easily the top two; Bell came in a far third."

"Alright, so is it decided then? McKinnon and Mace?" The other three nod and James writes the names down. "Now, onto Keepers."

* * *

"Prongs, you coming?" Sirius calls out to his friend, still in his Quidditch gear, waiting for James before heading up to the castle.

"I'm going to fly around for a little while, be up in a bit." Sirius nods in acknowledgment, but stays just out of James's vision. He wants to know what's going on with him. James told Sirius and the lads about rounds, glossing over Regulus like he was asked to. Sirius has noticed his erratic behavior since then and it disturbs him. Usually, if something is bothering James, it's not too difficult to get it out of him, but since Friday, he's been exceptionally secretive. Sirius watches his best mate do loop after dive after other miscellaneous dangerous broom stunts. He only does that when he's extraordinarily angry and needs to get it out without hurting someone else.

The wind whips James's hair; his glasses shield his eyes from the burning feeling of the wind. Every dive, loop or stunt, James gets closer to the ground. The adrenaline diminishes his anger; it makes it disappear is a whoosh of wind.

James tries to remember why he was mad in the first place; his Quidditch team this year was going to be superb! Lily, oh right, _Lily_ is why he's angry. How can he be so enamored with someone who makes him so blindly infuriated? _Merlin_, love was stupid. The realization crashes down upon James at the end of a dive and he forgets to pull out. He's in love with Lily Evans. Fuck. This whole debacle happens in a few seconds, which costs him, and those are the last things he thinks before hitting the ground, his mind in the clouds still. He hears someone shouting; Sirius? Then it all goes black.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry to distress, my lovelies, but not really MWHAHAHA**


	9. Souls Collide

Chapter 9: Souls Collide

"Finally!" Lily squeals as a wispy, white doe floats from her wand.

"Took you long enough, Miss Evans!" Professor Sutherland, this year's DADA teacher, praises her, well the Professor Sutherland kind of praise. "See everyone? That is a _corporal _Patronus, it is supposed to reflect your soul, and essentially it's your spirit animal." The doe prances around Lily, making her giggle. It nudges her side with its head and trots over to where the Marauders, except James, as he is still in the Hospital Wing, and the other girls are sitting. Lily is the third, the first and second being Sirius and Remus, to get a corporal Patronus.

"Is that-" Remus begins.

"A doe? I believe so, Moony." Sirius smirks.

"What do you mean?" Peter cocks his head in confusion, watching the aforementioned doe with care, trying to see what he missed.

"James's is a stag," Sirius supplies simply, his voice low. This doesn't clear Peter's confusion at all. The doe jumps over Katrina, making her laugh. Katrina is much happier than normal; she found out that she got Chaser this morning.

"Do you remember the article we read when you guys were researching about becoming – I mean – helping me with my furry little problem?" Remus smiles at the cover for his lycanthropy.

"The one that relates the – help – with Patronuses?"

"Yeah, do you remember the part we skipped over, but James read?" Sirius reminds Peter bluntly, trying to make him catch on without saying it.

"The soul-mate side-note?" Sirius grins at his fifth year self, who dubbed said article that.

"Yep. Lily's Patronus is a doe. James's is a stag," he prompts. Finally, apprehension dawns on Peter's face and he too begins to smile.

"They're soul mates," Peter murmurs in awe.

"Yes, now we can't mention this to Prongs; he'll become insufferable." Sirius and Peter nod. The doe then comes over to the Marauders and tries to tackle Sirius playfully. He bats at the mist.

"Oi! Don't mess with my Patronus, Black!" Lily is trying to be stern, but her face-breaking grin makes it difficult; she's been working in this damn spell for ages. Professor Sutherland's tough love way to teach helped her more than Lily expected it to. It's a relief to be over with it, _at last. _A doe… she likes it, it makes her smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lily-kins! _Expecto Patronum." _With a simple wave of his wand, a large dog bursts from Sirius wand, right at the doe. They barrel over each other, the doe trying desperately to escape, the dog wanting to play.

"Sirius!" she whines, making him chuckle. He drops his wand and the spectral dog vanishes. Thinking of James has him worried again. Why didn't he pull out of the dive? James said he lost focus. But what the _hell _was he thinking so intensely about that Quidditch couldn't distract him?

* * *

"Katrina!" Marlene waves her over, despite Dorcas's mumbling. "We're team mates!"

"I know!" Katrina practically squeals, her excitement getting the better of her. "You know, I'm so glad they needed _two _Chasers, because if they hadn't, they would've picked you."

"I don't know… you were pretty great out there."

"Oh please, you're much better than me!" Both girls start aggressively complimenting the other at the expense of their selves.

"YOU BOTH WERE BLOODY BRILL, NOW SHUT IT," Dorcas roars, quite annoyed by the meaningless chatter. Katrina turns to her fellow Gryffindor, inspecting her person obviously; Dorcas's hair is out in its natural curls, only a bit darker than Katrina's own, but much shorter, her black eyeliner swings out into clean, even wings. Katrina could never get those right, that's why she resorted to her smudged raccoon-eye.

"Oh Dorky, you think so?" Katrina asks her with a fake hopeful look on her face. Dorcas rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "I've always treasured your opinion."

"Can we talk about me getting Keeper?" Kianni interrupts Katrina and Dorcas's glare war.

"Sure, Ki, congrats on getting Keeper. Did you visit a broom cupboard with Sirius to help your chances?" Marlene asks, loving the chance to be snarky. Kianni blushes an annoyingly flattering rose hue. "You ruin all the fun, Kianni."

"What? What did I do?" Kianni pouts.

"You're _attractive_ when you blush! So not fair!"

"Excuse me girls, see you two at practice!" Katrina stands up and walks down the Gryffindor table to where the seventh years were sitting. "James!" She sees her Captain sitting with his mates. "Thank you so much!" she gushes, taking the place next to him.

"Welcome," he responds tiredly.

"Are you okay?" She falters, taking in the sad air about him.

"Fine," he responds tersely, not meeting her eyes.

"I know you're lying," she prods him.

"Katrina, I've known you barely a week. I haven't told Sirius. What makes you think I'll tell you?" he deadpans; massaging the bridge of his nose under his glasses. Katrina squirms. She keeps forgetting she's new here. She slipped so easily into the routine here. It's almost as if she belongs. Which, of course, is ludicrous; Katrina doesn't fit in anywhere. She never has and never will. It's her curse. All her friends eventually turn on her. It's always been that way. Katrina simply isn't good enough to have real friends. The only person consistent in her life is her dad's butler, Roland.

James notices her change in expression and sighs. Somehow, he managed to deflate her radiant attitude with three sentences. What was his problem? No wonder Lily hates him so much. Ugh Lily. He can't sleep with that blanket anymore; it has… _her_ embedded into it now, her lavender perfume and her floral shampoo. Both James and Katrina escape into their own psyche, forgetting the world around them.

"Oi, you two!" They don't look up. "Prongs, Kat!" No reaction. Finally, Sirius hits them both with a book, taking them out of their trances. "Why were both of you staring off into space?"

"Sorry for snapping, Kat," James mutters, ignoring his best mate for the moment.

"No offense taken," she chokes out, hiding her tears and blindly walks out of the Hall.

"What the hell did you say to her, James?" Sirius asks him, exasperated with his mate's moodiness.

"Nothing." James tells him stubbornly.

"Clearly it was something; she looked really upset, Prongs. What. Did. You. Say?"

"What's it to you?" James spits.

"She's new here, James! It's our job to make her feel at home!"

"You sound like Lily," James scoffs.

"Don't take out your own problems on random people, _especially _not Katrina. She did nothing to deserve that." Sirius can recognize the pain behind her eyes, as he sees it so often behind his own.

"Do you fancy her, Padfoot?" James asks quietly.

"She's fit," Sirius responds stiffly; neither confirming nor denying, but that's enough for James.

"You, Sirius Black, _actually _fancy someone!" James marvels at the thought.

"Go swim with the Giant Squid," Sirius mutters.

"Now you _really _sound like Lily." James rolls his eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Lily," Remus stops his friend from going into the Great Hall yet.

"Hi Remus," she greets him, her eyes downcast.

"Are you doing alright?"

"Did Potter tell you about rounds?" She looks up at him, annoyed and touched by his concern. Remus confirms this by nodding. "He was just trying to be my bloody knight-in-shining-armor, I don't bloody appreciate that!" Lily mutters bitterly.

"Lily, James was really concerned about you. I didn't see him before you woke up, but I can imagine. He was probably worried out of his mind. Madam Pomfrey told me he refused to leave your bedside even when he was being healed. So _don't_, don't brush it off as a confidence-booster. James kicked Slytherin arse for you." Remus has clearly practiced this little speech. The conviction with which he says it shocks Lily. Deep down, she knows there's more to James than his arrogance, but she can't let that show. She _can't _be his friend or… or _anything _else!

"Remus, I _know _he's your friend, but he's not mine. And he never will be. He hates the Slytherins. He would have done that if it were anybody they were attacking. He's just like that, always looking for a fight. Our Head duties are getting more and more difficult, so I would _appreciate_ him backing off. He doesn't really care about me, so I'd like him to stop his games, stop wasting his time and just _move on. _There are plenty of girls more willing than I." Lily had thought this over as well. James simply _couldn't _actually care for her that much. Why would he want her? He was rich, funny, a genius, a pureblood and… well, even _she _couldn't deny it… fit. And she was just… Lily; boring, freckled, over-zealous-in-her-studies Lily Evans. Remus fights the smile off his face; she thinks he's too good for her. After everything she's said, she still sees the good in him, because that's just how she is. Lily sees the good in everyone, in James, in Snape, in Remus, _everyone._

"I'll let him know." Remus smirks, this makes Lily suspicious. They then talk of, less important, things, like school and Prefect duties on the way into the Great Hall.


	10. Poor Pride Dies

**A/N: THANK YOU JANE! That's all I have to say.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Poor Pride Dies

The Gryffindor Seventh Years and mostly everyone in Hogwarts love their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, Professor Sutherland. She is old, about McGonagall's age, past middle-aged, but not quite at Dumbledore's level yet. She has perfect posture, standing ram-rod straight at all moments, but her silver hair is always down in a crazy frizzy mess. Somehow, she makes it seem dignified. Her eyes are a warm, honey color you'd expect for a nice person. She is not what you'd call… _nice. _She's witty, intelligent, and wise, among many other things, but _nice _just wasn't one of them.

Yet, Lily hadn't ever felt more gratitude to one person. Professor Sutherland had gotten her to perform the Patronus Charm when everyone else, Lily included had failed. Now, Lily got to watch everyone else work hard on the Charm while sitting back with the Marauders. Peter has finally gotten it, his is a rat. James is mysteriously late for class.

One by one, her friends each get it, Alice first. Her dolphin swims amiably around her. Elaine takes a while, even Allison Elroy got it before her; she likes to keep her spectral hedgehog on her shoulder. But, finally, Elaine watches with delight as her duck waddles around the room. Both Evelyn and Katrina look on with disbelief and frustration.

"Dammit! What the hell! Why can't I get this?!" Evelyn curses

"Miss Skeeter, language" Professor Sutherland snaps. Lily quickly gets up to help her friend.

"Maybe your memory isn't happy enough?" She suggests "Will you tell me?" Evelyn sighs, closing her eyes at her friend's gentle tone.

"Back when Rita was still bearable, I was four I think, she was thirteen; she was complaining to me about boys. We were having a tea party. That was the last time she did one of those with me." She whispers, not meeting Lily's eyes.

"Evelyn, I think the problem with that memory is that all that's happened since then has… _tainted _it, so it's not as happy as it once was. I think, maybe, you should pick something, well, _happier." _Lily tells her softly.

"Yeah" Evelyn looks at her toes "Yeah, maybe"

"Find that memory and focus on it. Let it fill you. _Become _the memory. And then you know what to do." Evelyn nods curtly and Lily backs up to give her space. The blonde takes a deep breath, extends her wand arm and speaks the incantation very clearly. A galloping horse shoots out of her wand, much to her surprise. She's too happy to be her usual cold self and runs to hug Lily.

"Thanks Lily!" Katrina looks on with determination; if Evelyn can get it, so can she.

"You're welcome, Evelyn!" The door to the classroom opens quietly, most people stay focused on their Patronuses, but Lily turns to see who it is. It's James. His face is tired and resigned. He ignores his friends, instead heading straight for Professor Sutherland. Lily doesn't hear the conversation, as it's very hushed, but she sees James's ashen face and Sutherland's acceptance of his note white-lipped. She motions for him to perform a Patronus. He sighs, but raises his wand arm. A white stag pours from the tip of his wand. Great, he can do it effortlessly, while most of the class can't even produce a non-corporeal Patronus. Lily fights the urge to scoff and walks back over to the Marauders to retrieve her stuff because she certainly isn't sitting with them now that James has returned. He walks over while she's still there. Lily turns around, meets his eye by mistake, and walks away quickly, hiding her blush.

* * *

_Merlin_, Lily hates apologizing. It means admitting she was wrong. She hates that. She just wants the other person to just know telepathically that she is sorry and not make her say it. Lily never said she doesn't have a pride problem. What he did was rather sweet and not to mention chivalrous. She simply can't get what Remus said out of her head. _He refused to leave your bedside even when he was being healed… James kicked Slytherin arse for you._

"Hey Potter" She taps her shoulder, wincing at her sharp tone.

"He didn't do whatever you think he did, Evans!" Sirius defends his best mate.

"I'm not here to scold him, Black. I just need to _talk _to him." Lily scowls at the surprise on all of their faces, especially James's.

"Alright, Evans" James stands up uncertainly, trying to gauge her attitude. She walks purposefully out of earshot of all of their friends.

"Potter… I'm – erm – I'm… sorry" She grits her teeth, hating how unwilling she sounds. She can't help that her pride is festering and dying on the floor at her feet as she stands there with him; wouldn't _you _sound unwilling?

"You're… what?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry." Lily winces "_Don't _make me say it again" Lily closes her eyes and massages her temples.

"Why?" He asks her softly. Her eyes snap open at his gentle tone, her cheeks tinged red.

"Why do I not want to say it again? I have a pride problem that's why!" Lily admits and then scolds herself for saying something so stupid. James has the nerve to laugh.

"No, why're you sorry?"

"_Because, _I acted like a real brat in the Hospital Wing and I shouldn't have said what I did. I should have just thanked you and been done with it. But I – I didn't so… thank you…" James doesn't say anything; he just stares at her quizzically until Lily cracks under the silence. "Please… say something. This was hard enough by itself, stop making it harder by just staring at me like that!"

"Like what?" James muses; he's clearly enjoying her incredible awkwardness.

"Like… like _that!" _She stutters; her gaze moves briefly to where the Marauders are sitting, _her _friends seem to have joined them.

"Oops, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to look at Your Gorgeousness. I'll try harder in the future." Lily smacks his arm, not appreciating his sarcasm. He chuckles at this. "Apology accepted"

"Well… good, now run along back to your friends, but we need to talk later about the next Prefect's meeting. I said it would be this week, but we haven't planned anything. How about we meet in the Heads Office?" Lily rambles; James smiles warmly at her as she blushes ferociously.

"Okay, see you later, Evans" He laughs to himself

"… See you, Potter"

* * *

"Is it just me or is the sexual tension over there so thick you could slice it with a knife and serve it as cake?" Katrina sits down with the Marauders, sans James.

"It's not just you" Remus smirks, as they all watch Lily blush profusely.

"After Christmas holiday" Sirius blurts out, confusing everyone in the vicinity.

"What?" Peter tries to make sense of his friend's comment.

"I think they'll finally get together after Christmas holiday" Sirius elaborates

"No way, Lily's much more stubborn than that. Easter holiday" Remus argues

"She went from hating him to instigating 'talks' with him in a single week." Sirius points out.

"But she got _mad _at him for saving her!" Remus counters

"She doesn't complain about him anymore" Elaine says, startling everyone.

"When'd you lot get here?" Alice and Evelyn sit beside her.

"A minute ago, you were too intent on your argument to notice."

"Oh, well Moony" Sirius addresses his friend again. "Would you like to make a friendly wager?" He pulls his bet-keeping notebook, a quill and an inkwell out of one of his abnormally large pockets. His jeans seem too tight for him to be able put his whole forearm into the pockets, but when people ask him about it he just smiles and says 'Magic' mysteriously.

"Are we making bets on our friends' happiness?" Elaine asks, acting offended

"Quite so, Elle" Sirius answers solemnly

"Just making sure that was what's happening here."

"Moony, your bet?" Sirius turns back to his fellow Marauder.

"_Fine, _three Galleons on after Easter holiday." Sirius writes this down.

"I agree with Remus. Lily is the most stubborn person I know. Put me down for _two_ Galleons on after Easter." Elaine lessens the funds she's betting in a rare moment of frugality.

"I'm going to be optimistic and say _before _winter break," Katrina puts in.

"And I'm after Christmas and before Easter. Prepare to _lose; _all of you. Pete, Evie, Allison, would you like to put a chip in?" Evelyn rolls her eyes, not even bothering to correct Sirius and declines. Alice goes with Katrina, remembering James's blanket; and Peter goes with Remus with a single Galleon.

"Ooo, BLACK I SEE YOUR BET-KEEPING NOTEBOOK – I WANT IN." Marlene yells from across the room. He shushes her and motions for her to come over; she brings Kianni. "What are we gambling over?" She sits next to Sirius eagerly.

"When James and Lily will finally get together," Alice supplies, tucking her long, dark hair behind her ear.

"What are the slots?"

"Before Winter Break. After Winter Break, but before Spring Break. And after Spring Break." Katrina tells the blonde.

"I'll take _during _Easter holiday." Marlene smirks.

"I'll take that too," Kianni adds.

"Excellent, is that everyone?" After each member of the group gives consent, Sirius puts the notebook away right before Lily and James return.


	11. Down to the Village

Chapter 11: Down to the Village

It is Hogsmeade today. The first Hogsmeade trip this year. And Elaine Crouch has nothing to wear.

"Why are _none _of you my size?!" she groans to her dorm-mates. The closest to her size is Alice because they are roughly the same height, but Elaine is _much _curvier. Alice had more of a boyish-figure. "Katrina," Elaine whines "Why aren't you my size?! Some of your clothes are so cute!"

"_Some_ of my clothes?! Don't you mean _all _of my clothes?" Katrina protests from their shared vanity, as she lines her eyes and smudges it with her finger.

"I can't pull off the whole punk-rock star thing like you can!" Elaine argues, already in the pits of date-anxiety-despair. Lily strides in the room just then, sensing the distress from outside. "Lily! None of these twits are my size!"

"I'm terribly sorry, but you'll have to just use your own clothes."

"Dammit, you're right." Elaine then begins to rummage through her bureau, throwing things out in a frenzied manner. "Too slaggy," she murmurs.

"Too cold."

"Too ugly."

"Too prudish."

"Aha! Yes! This is perfect!" Elaine grabs the jeans that make her butt look nice, a floaty tank top and a pale pink jumper. "Now for make-up and hair. Ugh!" All of the girls, except Evelyn, flock to Elaine and help her out in their own ways; Katrina does her make-up, Alice does her hair and Lily calms her down as best she can. When it becomes clear that the girls aren't leaving anytime soon, Evelyn walks down to breakfast by herself.

"Are you ready, Elaine?" Elaine scrutinizes herself in the mirror.

"I don't know… are you sure he'll like it?"

"He'll love it, you look wonderful!" Alice assures her.

"Alright, fine, let's go down to breakfast." The four girls link arms in the cheesiest way and walk down to the Great Hall.

"Oi, Crouch! There you are! I thought you were going to hide up in your dorm all breakfast." Sirius catches their attention; when they are close enough, he looks her up and down. "Why're you dressed like that?"

"What? Do you not like it?! Should I go change-" Lily cuts her off, glaring fiercely at Sirius.

"Elaine has a _date _today and she's rather anxious. So, if you'd keep your damn opinions to yourself, we'd all be much better off." Sirius is dumbfounded.

"It looks nice, Elle, I was just wondering… 'cause you never dress like that."

"Thanks, but yeah I don't normally go on dates, now do I? You don't usually dress-up for a meeting in a broom cupboard," she says hurriedly and flops down into the seat next to Sirius.

"Not particularly, who's the lucky bloke?"

"Lucky," Elaine snorts. "More like _un_lucky, if you ask me," she mutters to herself.

"His name is Scott Stebbins," Alice cuts in.

"Stebbins? Really? Isn't he dating that Florence bird?" You can see the small layer of disgust under Sirius's light comment.

"Not anymore," Lily singsongs. "Now, if you'll stop with the questions, Elaine needs to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Elaine mutters.

* * *

Lily sits at a table with Katrina and Evelyn in the Three Broomsticks. Alice was meeting Frank somewhere and Elaine was, of course, on her date with Stebbins.

"You three look lonely," Sirius comments, not asking before sitting down at their table with them, the other three Marauders sitting down as well

"We were actually quite happy without you four here," Evelyn says scathingly.

"So hostile," They nonetheless sit down at the girls' table. Sirius slides into next to Evelyn, who, in response, scoots closer to Lily. James sits down next to Katrina. Remus summons two stools for himself and Peter, to sit in the aisle. Peter gets butterbeer for everyone.

"Black, you're blocking the way to civil conversation. All Lily can talk about is Elaine and her _date._" This is Evelyn's way of ordering him to move. Sirius puts a hand to his chest and acts offended.

"I can hold a civil conversation!" Remus snorts into his butterbeer. "Prongs, tell them I can hold a civil conversation!" Sirius whines.

"Erm – Sirius can hold a _very_ civil conversation." James puts on a stony face, but breaks out into laughter at the end.

"Very convincing, now move!" Sirius reluctantly stands and lets Evelyn sit at the end. "I was getting tired of Lily asking me how I think Elaine's date is going. _I don't know! Ask Elaine!_" Evelyn mutters to Remus, who laughs in response, making her crack a smile. Remus and Evelyn then proceed to make _civil _conversation and somehow get on the topic of prejudices. "Obviously I'm against prejudices; my two best friends are a pureblood and a Muggleborn! But I don't want to talk about the War right now. Another prejudice I find atrocious is that against the likes of werewolves, house-elves, vampires, and veelas! Werewolves can't help that they turn into a beast every full moon! It isn't their fault!" During this mini-rant, Remus began to smile warmly at Evelyn; she was so caught up in the injustices of the world they live in that she hardly notices his strange reaction.

Lily, however, does. She was craning her neck to try and see Elaine's table from her seat and her eyes fell upon the pair. Evelyn's putting so much passion into what she's saying that she's beginning to sweat and her curls are frizzing out. Remus is simply watching her, enraptured.

Lily begins her quest as match-maker.

She gazes around the table, not wanting to disturb them. She watches as Sirius and Katrina insist on flirting relentlessly with each other. Another match to work on. Then her eyes fall on James. Him and Peter are playing Paper Football (_American _Football, Katrina taught it to them) across the table.

When Lily found out James was Head Boy she thought she was going to explode. _Dammit _she thought _Now I'm going to have to do all the work! _But that's not how it turned out at all. James and Lily met in the Head Office, just like they said they would, later that day. They planned out most of the meeting that night, signed up for rounds (Heads got first privileges) and had the Prefect and the Quidditch schedule work together, so none of the Quidditch players had to miss practice for rounds or vice versa. Lily had expected him to be goofy and unfocused, when, really, (though he did crack jokes now and then) he was very efficient and on-task. Lily appreciates the serendipity.

She now looks back at James, a small smile splayed over her lips. Katrina, though sitting next to him, never makes eye-contact or even acknowledges his existence. And if they do, they are cordial and awkward. Lily can see it's bothering Sirius too, if not more. Katrina used to positively _love _James! What happened there?

After the fourth awkward occurrence between James and Katrina, Katrina stands up.

"I need some fresh air," she mutters, excusing herself.

"Me too…" Sirius adds, following her out, worried. He sends an annoyed glance back at James, who pointedly ignores it.

* * *

Katrina welcomes the feeling of the brisk September air on her cheeks. She walks quickly, not even sparing the village a passing glance. She's never been here before, but its magic is lost on her. Her _friends _are all just the same as all the others. James is only the first to turn on her. Soon they'll all see her for who she really is; a selfish, pathetic, untalented, little rich-girl. Like she said, all her friends leave her at some point, none ever return. Her only constant companion is Roland, _Merlin_, she misses him; his funny Scottish accent, how his eye's crinkle when he smiles, his soft crackling voice.

Katrina has been walking blindly for quite some time and has happened upon a fence. A fence which guards a broken down old house, Lily told her it was haunted, what was its name? Ah, The Shrieking Shack, that was it. She sits down on a boulder near the fence and begins to wallow in her self-pity. She hears the crunch of leaves from behind her and knows someone followed her.

"Kat!" She recognizes Sirius's voice, though she's surprised by the concern laced in it.

"Go away," she sniffles. She hears his footsteps stop and hears his breath catch when he sees her heaving form. Men can't take it when women cry; they don't know what to do.

"Katrina?" His feet crunch in the leaves once more as he continues his approach. Katrina flinches when he puts his hand on her shoulder.

"I told you to leave, Sirius. So, leave, be like everyone else and leave me be," she responds bitterly. Sirius only sits down next to her.

"But I'm Sirius Black, I'm _not _everyone else," he jokes, trying to lighten her mood. She only scowls.

"You're only making this harder."

"I tend to do that." He chuckles.

"How can you laugh?!" she demands, standing. Sirius stops laughing, and smiling for that matter, immediately. "You all are just like every other bunch of friends I've ever had! Soon you'll realize what a piece of shit I am and you'll _leave. _Like everyone else. You'll fucking _leave. _So you may as well start now!" This doesn't faze Sirius; he's been through worse hissy fits.

"I already told you, Kat, I'm not like everyone else. And, for the record, nor are they. None of the people we just left in the Three Broomsticks are anything but unique. None of us are going to leave you." This is the gentlest Katrina has ever seen Sirius and it hurts her. It hurts her because she knows it's fake. It's all fake. It's always fake.

"Yeah Right. James is only the first. He hates me because _he _understands who I am more than any of you! He knows that I'm nothing but a pathetic rich-kid whose been kicked out of so many schools, she can't count them on her hands! And for what? Her bastard daddy's attention? Yeah? WELL FUCK THAT. I'M GOING TO PASS THIS YEAR AND GET ON WITH MY FUCKING LIFE. I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS SHIT AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN!" Sirius moves forward to cradle her face, trying to calm her down. "Get off me! Better to be alone than with fake friends, I say." This crosses the line, Sirius had been repressing his anger to help her, but calling them fake is the last thing she should do.

"We're fake, are we? Is that what you think of us? You think so lowly of those people in there? People, may I remind you, who have been nothing but nice to you since the train ride!"

"How could you be anything else?" _How could you want to be my friend? _Is what she really means to say.

"I don't know, maybe because some of us are actually _good _people!" Katrina scoffs at this.

"Good people befriend the pathetic out of pity. I don't want your damn pity!" she screams at him, her tears blurring her vision.

"You don't have my pity," Sirius says coldly, not reacting to her pounding on his chest.

"W-what?" He grabs her wrists to stop their repeated punching.

"You don't have my pity, Katrina. I don't pity people. I've been handed quite the bushel of lemons from life and I've almost run out of sugar. So I don't give a damn if your daddy doesn't pay attention to you! Don't you _ever _insult my mates again! They are far better people than either of us." He drops her wrists and stalks back to the pub. Katrina collapses to the ground and breaks down into tears. The _one time _she finds people who actually care about her, she ruins it. This just proves that she doesn't deserve them.


	12. Dates and Dunces

Chapter 12: Dates and Dunces

Elaine and Stebbins met in the Entrance Hall as is typical. The walk down to the carriages was amusing; Stebbins got tripped up by a large group of over-zealous third years and fell flat on his face. Giggling hysterically, Elaine helped him to his feet. Stebbins shook his fist like a disgruntled old man at the third years, a mock-scowl on his face. Elaine doubled over in laughter. Elaine's nerves faded after that. Somehow, they arrive in Hogsmeade unharmed.

They walk around the Village first. They stop at Zonko's and Honeydukes to replenish their supplies of tricks and treats. Then they decide to head to the Three Broomsticks, where they will likely stay the rest of the time. Elaine and Stebbins find an open booth that is _just _out of the sight of Elaine's friends.

Stebbins is… well, he's charming, that's the right word to describe him. He's not terribly funny, but Elaine laughs at all of his jokes. He's nice, of course, but not in the over excessive way. His smile is Elaine's favorite part of him; the way his lips stretch over his slightly crooked white teeth dazzles her, oh, and she can't forget his impossibly deep dimples, which are ever so cute.

Elaine's grin grows larger and larger as the date progresses; it's going so much better than expected! She's listening intently to Stebbins describing a Quidditch match he went to over the summer when Katrina rushes past her, Sirius following close behind. She tries to ask Sirius what's going on, but he waves her off. Stebbins shrugs it off easily and continues.

After they don't return for a good, long while, James stands up and almost reaches Elaine's table before Sirius comes bursting in through the door. He's radiating so much anger that she's surprised James even _tries _to talk to him.

"Mate, what happened? Is Katrina okay-" Sirius turns on his friend, cutting him off savagely.

"Like _you_ give a shit if Katrina's okay! You're the reason she went outside in the first place!" He looks like he's about ready to brawl, right here, right now, with James. But James has other plans; he hangs his head, agrees and apologizes over and over. Sirius's glare doesn't soften, but he doesn't yell anymore, instead heading back to their table to nurse a firewhiskey.

Elaine's happy-date-glow has faded slightly by worry for her friend. Soon though, Stebbins drives Katrina almost completely out of her mind; _almost, _it's still there, in the corner, waiting to be addressed. Once their date comes to an end, Stebbins walks Elaine back to the carriages.

Their carriage lurches to a stop, letting them know that they have reached Hogwarts soil once more. He opens the door for Elaine and helps her down, like a true gentleman. They reach the fifth floor where Stebbins stops climbing the stairs and Elaine continues.

"Well – er – this was nice. Thank you, Scott. We should do this again sometime," Elaine says shakily, suddenly nervous once more.

"I'd like that. Bye Elaine," Stebbins steps closer to Elaine, instead of away. He leans in and kisses her softly on the lips, a lingering kiss. Elaine's face heats up, but she kisses back tentatively. He breaks it off, smiling softly at her and walking away, towards the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"Bye Scott," Elaine whispers breathlessly.

* * *

In the boy's dorm, Remus and Peter are asleep, James is dozing and Sirius is drinking. It's late in the night; they got back from Hogsmeade several hours before. Sirius shut himself inside his bed the instant they returned. He hasn't talked to a soul after yelling at James, only drinking a flask of firewhiskey that he smuggled from the kitchen. None but Katrina and Sirius know the contents of their conversation, and neither Sirius nor Katrina have said a word to anyone.

"Mate," Sirius's hoarse voice sounds from inside his bed hangings.

"Yeah?" James responds hesitantly, hoping he's not going to yell again; his voice doesn't sound angry, just resigned.

"It's not your fault – well – it _is_, but only partly. You just re-inflated her self-loathing. We had buried it for a bit and you simply brought it back. It was bound to happen," Sirius finishes bitterly. James hears the swish of firewhiskey; Sirius charmed his flask to be Never-Emptying.

"I'm sorry," James repeats.

"You didn't mean to," Sirius sighs. James reckons Sirius is drunk by now; he _has _been drinking for a couple hours, but Sirius is a very weird drunk. He can still speak coherently and walk mostly straight, but he never remembers anything after he gets sloshed.

"So… you two had a row?" James, on the other hand, acts completely like you'd expect; slurred words, difficulty standing, vomiting, the whole sha-bang, yet he remembers _everything _as if he hadn't been drinking. So, James gets the pleasure of smacking his forehead, recalling the stupidity of the previous night. Plus, he _never _lets Sirius stay blissfully oblivious.

"Yeah," Sirius moans. "And no, I _don't _want to talk about it quite yet." James and Sirius tell each other everything; it's just a matter of timing.

"Alright Padfoot, well, let me know. G'night,"

"Night Prongs."

* * *

Katrina didn't move when all the students were recalled to the castle; the guards of the Hogsmeade Train Station swept the Village to check for stragglers. A disgustingly affectionate couple trailed behind the one checking the Shrieking Shack.

"C'mon dear, you need to return to the castle." When she didn't respond in any way, he pulled her to her feet, not roughly and got her to walk back to the carriages. Then she had to ride back to the castle with the couple snogging in the seat across from her. She took to staring, unseeing, out of the window, trying to ignore the kissing sounds filling the carriage. The tears finally stopped when the carriage bumped through the Main Gates. She knew that her old friends would be in the Common Room or their dormitories, so she began wandering about the castle instead.

* * *

It's well after curfew when Katrina stops wandering; she's in the Astronomy Tower, sitting on the edge and peering over. The night is cloudless and she can actually _see _the stars, not like her "view" back in the States; it makes her think about how small and insignificant she is. The night is without a moon, so it's much darker than usual. Katrina sits dangerously, her legs dangling over the edge of the Tower.

_No one would care_. She tells herself. _Sirius probably told everyone about our fight and now anyone who might've cared knows how much of a brat I am. _Her arms begin to push herself off the ledge. A sound of footsteps on the stone stairs brings her out of her haze. Katrina scoots away from the edge, regarding the railing-less balcony with fear and horror. Katrina thought she'd told herself she'd _never _try to do that again! She's a coward. Only cowards commit suicide. And she was no coward! She was sorted into Gryffindor after all! The footsteps stop abruptly.

"You!" a boy calls out to her "It's after curfew! What House are you in, I need to dock points?" Katrina turns to see a mousy sixth year. She remembers Lily telling her that his name was something like Dork Crozzbell, in Ravenclaw and spoke almost fluent Gobbledegook.

"Gryffindor," she answers, not concerned by her impending loss of points; the Marauders lose enough points that it's doubtful anyone would notice.

"Alright – 30 points from-" His companion, a fifth year Hufflepuff, interrupts him.

"Dirk, don't be a git, c'mon!"

"_Fine, _15 points from Gryffindor. Get back to your dormitory," he orders. Katrina stands slowly and walks past the pair.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave me a review, pleasie! I love to hear your opinions! THANKS TO MY LOVELY BETA JANE**


	13. Salvaged

**A/N: I apologize for the lack of Jily - I love developing Katrina's character - REVIEW PLEASE -THANKS TO MY READERS, REVIEWERS AND MY FANTABULOUS BETA JANE**

* * *

Chapter 13: Salvaged

Katrina slips into the dormitory. She has slept in here by coming in late and leaving early; it's better than having to see Elaine, Alice and Evelyn. She's been avoiding her old friends all week. She eats in the Kitchens, studies in an abandoned classroom and is never in the Gryffindor Tower when they are. Grabbing her toiletries, she walks over to the bathroom. The door is locked. She's about to go lie in her bed until whoever's in there is done, when she hears quiet sobs from inside. _It's none of your business. _Katrina thinks to herself. But, when they don't stop, Katrina whispers _Alohomora _and opens the door quietly.

Allison Elroy stands, crying, over the sink. She doesn't hear Katrina come in. Katrina barely knows the girl, besides the fact that she doesn't get along with her old friends and that she's blind. She stops crying abruptly, composes herself and puts her wand to her throat. Allison's eyes may not be able to see anymore, but they still convey emotion clearly enough. Katrina knows that dead look in Allison's eyes, having seen herself look that way too many times, and knows what she's about to do.

"Allison, put it down." The strawberry-blonde whips around wildly, her wand-arm dropping to her side.

"No!" she chokes. "You don't understand!I can't take it anymore!" she shrieks, her voice cracking; the dead expression is gone from her face, replaced with agony.

"Take what anymore?" Katrina prompts.

"You know what!" Allison spits. "I heard Crouch whisper it to you when we first met. My hearing's much sharper now… I can't take my eternal darkness!" Katrina doesn't know what to say to this. "You don't know how it feels to be blind. I can never see smiling faces and I haven't in years. I can hear their laughter, but I can't see their faces light up," she tells Katrina bitterly. "I was blinded in second year. Everything has gone by now. Once you haven't looked upon a sight in years, it _bloody fades!" _Tears stream down her face. "I can barely remember my mother's face. My lovely mother, she's probably aged and looks different now. I don't know what she looks like; my own mother! All of my sunsets, the stars, the sky, _gone! _I don't remember what the Great Hall looks like. Or Dumbledore. Or _any_ of my professors! Or my siblings! Or my dorm mates…"

"But you hate them, why would you want to see them?"

"So I could _see _them properly every time I imagine their demise. _They_ did this to me, you know. _It's their fault!" _Katrina is silent. Elaine never told her _how _Allison was blinded. And when she asked, Elaine skirted around the subject. "They didn't tell you, did they?" She laughs humorlessly. The crazed look disappears from her face and is replaced by the dead look she first saw. Katrina looks upon the girl with despair. That is the face of someone who has completely and utterly given up. Maybe it's better to just let her end her pain. Hell, Katrina had thought of it enough times to know the difference "You can't stop me!" Allison tells her shrilly. Katrina makes a split-second decision.

"Yes I can. _Accio_." Katrina points her own wand at Allison's and the wand flies from its frantic owner's white-knuckled hand. Why didn't she think of that sooner?

"Why do you even care?!" Allison yells.

"Because, while I might not know how it feels to be blind; I know how it feels to be alone and depressed. I know how it feels to know it will _never _get better. I know how it feels to want to just _end it." _Allison looks at Katrina's pained face with surprise. She doesn't notice; she's too busy remembering the night after her fight with Sirius and all the other nights she tried it. "_But, _that's never the right thing to do. _Never. _And now, you may not care if it's _right. _But it's also not brave. Being brave is to stick through the hard times and live for the good times. Suicide is cowardly, Allison. I learned that eventually. It's never worth it because then people look at you as mentally crippled. They take you for someone who needs _pity_. Personally, I _hate _pity." Katrina pauses, her face puckered with distaste. Allison cuts in.

"Pity is the _worst. _I can maneuver like normal people! Why can't they just treat me like everyone else?!" Allison complains.

"Exactly," Katrina agrees. "Now, can I give this back to you or will you take the coward's way out?"

"You can give it back. I won't attempt it." Katrina nods shortly and hands her dorm mate her wand. Allison starts to leave and Katrina begins to take out her toothbrush and toothpaste. She pauses at the door. "Thanks Katrina."

"You're welcome." She keeps her eyes trained on her toothbrush, concentrating on getting her toothpaste on cleanly. The door opens again, right as Katrina puts her toothbrush in her mouth. She turns, wondering what else Allison could possibly want. But it's not Allison. It's Alice. Katrina continues brushing her teeth, staring at the sink.

"That was beautiful, Katrina," she whispers. Katrina grunts, spitting out her toothpaste. "No, I'm serious. I don't think I could've gotten Allison to not-" Alice falters, her brow creasing. Katrina rinses out her mouth and turns to look at the brunette.

"To not kill herself?" Alice nods, blushing. "What did you hear?" she asks, thinking about Allison plotting their demise.

"I came in when Allison said 'You can't stop me!'" Katrina nods, shifting her weight awkwardly.

"What are you doing here, Alice?" Katrina sighs tiredly.

"I was going to get a drink of water. What are _you _doing here this late at night, brushing your teeth?" she redirects the question at Katrina.

"I'm not on the best of terms with you all right now, but I also don't have anywhere else to sleep," Katrina deadpans.

"Katrina, you _do _realize that none of us, except Sirius, we assume, know why you won't talk to us?" Katrina is ashamed just thinking about her meltdown on Saturday.

"You don't?" she splutters in shock.

"No and we miss you." Katrina's head snaps up from the ground.

"You what?" Shocked isn't a strong enough word for how Katrina is feeling now.

"We miss you! You're our friend, Kat! Plus, Sirius has been drowning himself in alcohol and women since Saturday, if that helps." Katrina grimaces at the mention of Sirius with women.

"He shouldn't be. It was my fault. I just blew up at him for a stupid reason," she mutters.

"Will you stop being a twit and acknowledge us again?" Katrina grins, nodding. "Good, we'll all be happy to have you back. But you might need to talk to James and Sirius."

"Right," Katrina sighs.

"Well, I'm going back to bed, see you in the morning?"

"See you." Alice smiles and slips back into their dorm.

* * *

Katrina slides seamlessly back into how it was before, joking with Elaine, studying with Lily, debating with Evelyn and talking with Alice. She even is on decent terms with James! The only person whose position hasn't moved is Sirius. Katrina is thinking that she'll wait another week before forgiving him. What he said to her wasn't very nice. He wasn't the cause of her meltdown, but he sure as hell didn't help to fix it!

She's walking from the Library with Lily when he approaches her.

"Katrina." She tenses at his voice.

"Oh, look at the time!" Lily pulls back her sleeve and looks at her bare wrist. "I'd better be going! My sheets need folding." With this pathetic excuse, Lily practically runs from the pair.

"_Bitch_," Katrina swears. Sighing deeply, she turns to face him. He has deep circles under his eyes, his hair is messier than she's ever seen it and he has the un-groomed beard that says he hasn't shaved in a while. She finds it rather cute, the scruff that is. "What do _you _want?"

"Katrina – I just wanted – I mean – I'm-" Sirius stumbles over his words. Katrina raises her eyebrows at him; she's never seen him so flustered.

"Spit it out, Black. I have to help Lily fold her sheets." A pained smile stretches across Sirius's face and he can't meet her eye. It almost makes her feel bad for being so cold.

"Rosmerta's mad at me. She doesn't like it when I steal alcohol." Sirius winces and Katrina raises her eyebrows again. "I mean – I shouldn't have – erm – James was being a git – dammit, I mean – fuck. Look, what I mean to say is I was a… a complete tosser to you at Hogsmeade. You were upset and I only made it worse and… I'm – I'm… sorry…" She can see his teeth grinding as he forces out the apology. Does the whole Gryffindor House have pride issues?!

"That was one of the worst apologies I've ever witnessed." Katrina chuckles. Sirius searches her face, not sure how to react. "I forgive you, moron." He lets himself grin and laugh, relieved. "_I'm _sorry for being such a piece of shit. I should never have said that stuff about our friends. They are the most genuine people I've ever met. Albeit, that's not saying much, I haven't met many, as you probably guessed. I just… I couldn't believe people would _actually _want to be friends with me," she mutters, not meeting his eye.

"Katrina, you're brilliant and anyone who says you aren't is a complete prat." Katrina looks up at him, smiling gratefully and hugs him. They both fall into it easily, comforted by the others' warmth.

"Thanks Sirius."


	14. Birthday Whiskey

**A/N: JILY IN THIS CHAPTER - sorta... THERE'S MORE COMING UP I PROMISE. THANKS TO MY WONDROUS BETA JANE AND ALL MY READERS AND REVIEWERS**

* * *

Chapter 14: Birthday Whiskey

"I'm turning 18 today," Katrina murmurs to herself. It's the seventh of October, a Friday.

"What's that?" Elaine asks. "Pass the syrup." Katrina grabs the handle of the maple syrup and gives it to her friend, ignoring her question. "Kat, what'd you say?" She clears her throat.

"Well – um – it's my birthday today," she mumbles.

"WHAT?" Lily bellows, surprising both other girls. "Were you planning on telling us this?!" The redhead turns on the American. Katrina just shrugs. "Ugh, I do need _time_ to plan a party, you know!" she grumbles.

"You could enlist the Marauders – they're fantastic at getting – erm – party…_stuff_ in a flash," Alice suggests.

"I may have to." Lily sighs.

"I don't need a party, guys, it's okay, really." Katrina squirms in her seat. Lily stares at her in disbelief. Elaine laughs whilst drinking her pumpkin juice, almost choking and Alice shakes her head condescendingly.

"Good luck with that one, Katrina." Evelyn snorts. "Lily plans a party for all of us; no matter how _unwilling _the birthday girl is."

"Everyone deserves a party on their birthday," Lily replies haughtily. "Excuse me; I have a party to plan." Lily stands "Oi, Black!" All of the Marauders turn at the call. "I need your help planning a party. It's our dear Katrina's birthday today and she didn't tell us a thing until just now. I need assistance." Sirius cracks his knuckles.

"Let the professionals do the work _for _you, Red. Team, let's show this poor ginger how it's done." James smiles mischievously. Remus rolls his eyes, but gets up nonetheless.

"I don't know if I like my new nickname, Black." Lily rolls her eyes at his antics.

"Too bad, because I like it, so it's staying." Sirius stands.

"Don't I get a say?"

"You clearly don't know Sirius if you think you do." James grins

"Damn, well, let's go plan this party, shall we?" Lily leads them out of the Great Hall.

* * *

Elaine places her hands over Katrina's eyes, making the girl squeak, startled.

"C'mon, Birthday Girl, fun is this way!" She leads Katrina through the Portrait Hole and up the stairs carefully. The room is silent. Elaine removes her hands from Katrina's eyes and reveals the room. The Head's Office has been turned into a suitable party-place. The couch is pushed to one wall, there are two tables set out with food and beverages, which are mostly alcoholic. There is a banner across the window saying '_Happy Birthday Kitty-Kat!_' and balloons everywhere.

"SURPRISE!" Katrina grins as all of her friends jump out from behind furniture. No one had ever done something this nice for her before. Soon, she's loaded up with butterbeer and promises of presents, with the short notice none of them had bought her anything.

"Who wants to play a game?" Elaine yells as the later hours of the party arrive; everyone forms a circle in the middle of the room.

"How about Truth or Dare?" Sirius wiggles his eyebrows.

"You guys are like pre-teen girls." Lily sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Truth or Dare it is!" Sirius grins triumphantly.

"Okay, I'll start - Truth or Dare?" Elaine giggles, asking Katrina.

"Truth," Katrina sighs, knowing exactly what Elaine would make her do. She's not kissing Sirius tonight. Elaine is convinced they have "sexual tension".

"Ugh _fine, be _a party-pooper – Erm – Damn, I had a _great _dare – How many boyfriends have you had?" Elaine scowls and sticks her tongue out at her friend.

"Real boyfriends?"

"Yeah, like, let's say, at least four months."

"Hm, alright, let's see." Katrina starts to count them on her fingers, trying to recall their names. "I've had many that lasted less than that," she mumbles.

"Doesn't count," Sirius decides.

"Plenty of one-night-stands," Katrina grumbles to herself.

"If one-night-stands counted, Sirius and I would've dated the entire school!" Elaine laughs. Sirius winks at that mention of himself.

"_Fine_, I think… like, maybe, five?"

"A fit bird like you?" Sirius narrows his eyes in disbelief.

"I got kicked out of lots of schools before I had the chance to date anyone. Plus, no one ever really caught my eye. They all only wanted me for my looks and – and well, I'm easy after you get me drunk, which is also not hard. I'm the definition of a light-weight," Katrina mumbles, looking at her lap.

"_That's _why you don't drink!" Elaine chuckles. "I thought you were just stiff."

"Yeah, as you are all my friends I wouldn't want to… desecrate you guys. I tend to get…"

"Alluring?" Elaine offers, Katrina nods, blushing.

"When I drink," she finishes, looking at her lap.

"Onward!" Sirius clears his throat, trying to move past this, seeing it makes Katrina uncomfortable. "Kat – you go."

"Okay – um – Sirius, Truth or Dare?"

"DARE." Katrina grins devilishly after a moment of thought.

"Kiss Remus."

"_Me? _Damn you, Katrina! Why couldn't you do one of the girls? Evelyn even!" Remus protests. Evelyn makes a _hmph _sound at her mention.

"I'm offended, Moony!" Sirius puts a hand over his heart, acting seriously offended.

"Padfoot, you are devilishly handsome and any _girl _would be lucky to have you." Remus sighs.

"You forgot to mention how good I am in bed." Sirius smirks, making most of the people in the circle cringe.

"And terrible in bed," Remus says a solemn look on his face. Sirius smacks him with a pillow.

"Oi, boys! Get on with it!"

"I hate you, Katrina Mace," Remus mutters as Sirius wiggles his eyebrows at his friend.

"Hey! No being mean to the birthday girl!" Lily reprimands him, smacking him lightly on the arm. Sirius makes a loud smooching sound as he kisses Remus on the lips. The moment Sirius's mouth leaves his, Remus wipes his mouth and spits repeatedly.

"Hand me the firewhiskey," he asks weakly, Peter complies.

"_My _turn! Prongs,"

"Dare," James says after a moment of consideration.

"Chug a whole bottle of firewhiskey."

"You bastard," James mutters, and then goes to retrieve said alcohol.

* * *

"Ugh fuck – I feel sick," James slurs, making Lily roll her eyes.

"Of course you feel sick. You chugged _two _whole bottles of firewhiskey!" she scolds.

"Sirius dare meh tah!" he argues, his words running.

"Twice, the prat." Lily looks around the room to assess the damage.

She's the only one who stayed sober.

James, of course, was dared to chug two bottles of firewhiskey by Sirius. Lily feels terrible for him.

Elaine and Sirius convinced Katrina to drink some, her comment about being a lightweight is then confirmed; she's disappeared, along with Sirius. Lily can't decide whether to grin or to grimace at that.

After people continually dared other people to kiss him, Remus stole the last bottle of firewhiskey and left the game to nurse his drink on his own.

Evelyn left the game soon after, going over to Remus to ask him for some of his firewhiskey. They are now passing the bottle back and forth, talking.

Elaine passed out and Peter carried her up to her room; how he got up the stairs, Lily has no idea, but doesn't care to know. Peter then retired to the boy's dormitory.

Thus, Lily has been left alone to deal with a very drunk James Potter. She thanks Merlin that he isn't a sexual drunk, because she does _not _want to deal with that.

"Do you want me to help you get to the loo?" Lily sighs. James shakes his head and immediately regrets it; the room spins. He tries to stand, staggers and almost falls. Lily catches him with a grunt.

"Give me your glasses," Lily commands once they reach the restroom. James doesn't move to help her, stubbornly keeping them. "You don't want them to fall in, do you?" She reaches to take them and he lets her. "That's it." She flips up the toilet seat and rubs his back as he leans over it, his face taking on a greenish hue. James looks completely different without his glasses, more innocent, younger. It unnerves her.

Lily turns away when he finally relieves himself of all of the alcohol in his system. They sit there on the cold Head's bathroom floor for a while. No matter how disgusted Lily is, she doesn't leave, she can't make herself. She doubts James could stand without her in the state he is in. James tries to say something when he's finished, but Lily shushes him.

"Quiet. Here, let's go up to your dormitory." James smirks, the innuendo written clearly across his face. Lily blushes when she sees it."Mind out of the gutter, Potter. You need sleep. I'm not staying." She rolls his eyes at his pout. "C'mon." She drapes his arm over her shoulder and guides him through the door to his room.

* * *

Katrina stumbles into the Head Girl's bedroom, Sirius holding her by the waist. His hand slides further down and squeezes, making her squeal. She turns and grabs the collar of his shirt, pulling his mouth towards hers. Their mouths crash together. Sirius wraps his hands over her arse. She tangles her fingers in his hair, bringing his mouth closer to her. His hands slide under her shirt. Katrina growls deep in her throat and begins to undo her buttons of her uniform oxford shirt. Sirius gets the message and finishes it for her while she moves to his shirt. They want to be touching, skin to skin, as much as possible. Their discarded shirts lay in a crumpled pile by the door.

Katrina begins to back up, seeking something to keep her standing, the alcohol and Sirius getting to her. The back of her knees knocks into Lily's bed. Sirius seems to understand, helping her onto the bed. The moment Katrina is stably lying on the bed, Sirius continues kissing her. He moves down her neck, nipping softly as he goes along. Katrina undoes the buttons of his pants, tugging them down to his knees. Sirius gets up briefly, his mouth barely leaving hers, to remove them.

"Your turn," he purrs, ridding her of her jeans. Katrina is too drunk to be self-conscious. She stands, throwing her pants into the corner and pulling Sirius down back onto the bed. Their tongues dance in unison. Their skins are hot against the other; the only sound is their pounding hearts. Both Katrina and Sirius think that they regret the fact that they won't remember this in the morning.


	15. Who Cares Who is Cared For?

Chapter 15: Who Cares Who is Cared For?

James blearily opens his eyes. All he knows is that he needs water. He sits up, mentally preparing himself for the trek to the toilet.

"Here James," a sweet voice murmurs quietly, bringing a cool glass to his lips. James takes it in his hands and drinks greedily. When he's done, he lies back down and promptly falls back asleep. He won't remember this in the morning, as he wasn't awake enough for his brain to actually turn on.

James cracks open his eyes when he hears his door close, the _click _is loud enough to wake him from his shallow slumber. He looks around, feeling knackered. A large glass of water and his glasses sit on the table by his bed. A chair is pulled up next to the to his bedside table, his old blanket – the _Lily _blanket he calls it now – lies, folded, on the seat. He chuckles to himself. And Lily said she wasn't staying.

* * *

Lily walks into her room, after leaving James, and opens the curtains. She hears two people moan and finds Katrina and Sirius _in her bed._

"MERLIN'S BAGGY SWEATPANTS – YOU TWO DID _NOT _SHAG IN MY BED!" she shrieks.

"Oww, hangover, Red, could you shut up for a minute?" Sirius groans. Katrina has the decency to blush when she sees Lily.

"NO! YOU TWO BETTER HAVE CLOTHES ON OR I SWEAR TO MERLIN I'LL CASTRATE YOU BOTH!" Sirius lifts the blanket to check their clothes status.

"Calm down, we're both wearing our undergarments, _well _the bottom half," Sirius tells her. She visibly sags with relief. Katrina blushes deeper, pulling the sheets closer around her chest.

"Thank Merlin, now, both of you get dressed." Lily summons their hastily discarded clothing and throws it at them. Sirius slides back into his rumpled clothing like an expert and is out quickly. Katrina, however, fumbles with her clothing, blushing and apologizing over and over. "It's fine, Kat. I just didn't want _Essence of Sirius_ on my bed sheets." Katrina blushes, if possible, _deeper _and won't meet Lily's eyes. Lily chuckles quietly to herself. "How's it being eighteen? You're a legal adult in the Muggle World."

"I feel the same." Katrina laughs. "Thank you for the party last night, Lil. No one's ever done something that nice for me before." She takes on a more serious tone while saying this.

"You're very welcome, Katrina. You're more grateful than any of the other girls." They share a laugh over that and Katrina gets up to leave.

"I'll leave you to do your morning things." Lily nods, still smiling as Katrina walks out of the door.

* * *

Later that day, Lily is curled up in her bed and is continuing to read the third of the books she's checked out after she was attacked. Lily's been researching self-defense; she's gotten quite good at it, trying out her skills on practice-dummies she transfigured out of pairs of her ugliest socks.

"L-_i-_ly." She jumps when a voice sounds next to her bed. She gasps, almost screeching, startled by the sudden noise. "I _did _knock." James smirks from beside her. She looks up at him sheepishly.

"I was… reading." She blushes lightly.

"I can see that." James chuckles. "Well, I just came to thank you for helping me out last night. My gitty friends ditched me, so I probably would've ended up on the Common Room floor in a puddle of vomit, if you hadn't helped me." Lily recoils slightly at the mention of vomit.

"I had plenty vomit in my life yesterday, I don't need anymore." James smirks, but not unkindly, more of an 'Oh you're too adorable' look. He raises an eyebrow. She sighs. "You're _welcome_."

"You're welcome, what?" James prods.

"You're welcome, Potter." He pouts, but she closes her book and crosses her arms over her chest.

"C'mon Lily, we're friends now, aren't we? Friends don't call each other by their last names!" Lily pauses. Friends? James sees the confusion on her face and groans. "When was the last time we actually fought? After The Rounds, I believe." Both flinch at the mention of Lily being attacked. Her eyes slide to her self-defense book. "What were you reading?" He sighs, giving up on that topic. She shows him the cover. "Self-Defense?" Lily nods shyly.

"Because of…?" he trails off and she nods.

"I don't ever want to feel that helpless ever again." Lily's face darkens, her mouth pressed into a hard line.

"You know, I passed first in our year in the DADA O.W.L.s and I'd be willing to share my knowledge with you."

"_You _tutor _me?" _

"Why not?" He sits next to her on her bed. Lily's first urge is to scoot away, but she doesn't; she wouldn't scoot away from Remus, would she? Admittedly, the situation is quite different than it would have been with Remus, but she chooses to ignore that. James grins at the small victory.

"Alright" Lily looks up at him, smiling slightly.

* * *

The Gryffindor Quidditch Team strides into the locker rooms; practice went well, the team is finally starting to fit together again. Katrina is the last to grab a shower; newbies don't get first shower privileges. But she doesn't mind, that means there's almost no one in the locker rooms when she's finished. No one at Hogwarts has seen her bare back, and for good reason. Katrina lets her towel fall to her waist.

"Nice ink, Kitty-Kat." Katrina gives a strangled shriek of surprise and pulls the towel back over her chest. She spins around and blushes when she sees it's Sirius. Did he see them?

"Fuck you, Sirius."

"Sorry I complimented your tattoo; I didn't know that wasn't allowed." The sarcasm drips from his lips, making Katrina roll her eyes. Her tattoo is of her mother's favorite picture; the setting sun peeks through the gate of the little garden she kept at their mansion and white climbing roses cover the fence. The roses start at her shoulder blades and climb to just over her shoulder

"No, you just startled me. Isn't this the girl's locker room? What are you doing here anyway?"

"I came to watch you dress creepily," Sirius responds, his eyes laughing, but his face serious.

"Well I'm not going to dress now that _you're _here." Katrina turns back to her things, putting everything but her clothes back into her bag. She can feel Sirius sidle up next to her, but she stays turned away, still embarrassed about this morning.

"Would you rather _undress?" _Sirius purrs in her ear. Katrina leans into him, letting him wrap his arms around her, barely keeping her towel up steadily. She almost drops it; the cold wind on her bare skin shocks her enough to bring her back to her senses.

"No, no, _no_." She pushes him away gently. He pouts, putting on his best puppy-dog face. She rolls her eyes and turns away.

"Do you remember how we ended up in Lily's bed on Friday?" This makes her stop, blushing profusely, she shakes her head. Both are disappointed that neither of them can remember anything, not one thing about their first night together. Katrina continues towards the changing stalls with her clothes. A silence grows quickly between them.

"What was that on the middle of your back?" Sirius asks suddenly from the other side of the stall. Dammit, he saw them. "Katrina" He murmurs softly when she doesn't respond.

"It's nothing, just scars," she mutters, careful to stay behind her stall, even though she's finished changing.

"Abnormally straight and angular scars? Don't bullshit me, Katrina. We both know it's something more." Katrina groans

"I don't need to fucking tell you anything!" Katrina sits down on the pull-out wooden bench in the changing stall, running her hands over her face. She hears the door creak open and Sirius is in there with her. His back is up against the door, his arms crossed.

"No you don't, but I may be the only one to understand, the only one to have gone to that dark place as well, aside from Elaine."

"I'd much rather talk to Elaine," Katrina mumbles.

"Well that's too bad, Elaine barely talks about it to anyone who isn't Evelyn or Lily and even then, rarely. Plus, I'm here now and she isn't. She hasn't seen your scars or your tattoos." Katrina refuses to meet his eyes. And then she just starts talking. He stands there by the door and listens; he doesn't respond how Lily or Elaine would, with sympathetic noises and shoulder-pats, he just watches her, his expression guarded yet strangely vulnerable.

She talks about her mother. That's when it all started, with her death. Katrina's mother died when she was seven, in a train accident. Her dad was never very close with his only child, but it only got worse after her mother's death. That's when Katrina started _trying _to get kicked out of schools, before then it was because of the accidental magic that all magical children experience. It was "fine" after the first year, her grief turned into anger and she stopped trying to talk to people about it. With every school, her outer shell hardened more and more until it became almost impossible to even talk with her. Her outer shell only worked around other people though, when she was alone her anger turned back into grief and loneliness. That's when she started cutting. She was smart enough to cut in a place where people couldn't see the scars when she wore clothing.

Hogwarts changed everything; it was her first international school, she seemed to have genuine friends within the first week, and her teachers weren't condescending or obedient because of her father's wealth. She wasn't automatically happier, but she eventually she let herself enjoy it. After her squabble with James, her doubts started flooding back in. Katrina explains about the week after Hogsmeade and how that all came back in a tidal-wave. Sirius doesn't apologize again. Katrina tells of how she leaned over the edge of the Astronomy Tower and finally she gets a reaction from Sirius; not a big one, just a tiny slit of panic that slips through and shows in his eyes.

"I hurried back from the edge when I realized what I was doing. I can thank Dirk Cresswell for that, if his clomping footsteps hadn't snapped me out of my haze, I might've jumped. Finally I remembered the promise I made to myself the last time I tried it; that I would _never _do it again and I expect to keep it this time." Katrina stops there, not talking about Allison as Alice told everyone in their group about it. Sirius comes and sits next to her on the wooden bench.

"I might not quite understand the kind of grief you have, but I do understand the loneliness. It was there from the first moment it was clear I was different from everyone else in my family; the dark void that opened up when my family rejected me. James, Remus and Peter helped with that, but it's not completely gone, it never will be. Still, they are my family now. _You_ are my family now." Katrina blushes and when Sirius understands what he just insinuated, he corrects himself quickly. "You and the other girls, I mean." Katrina tries to hide her disappointment and walks out of the changing stall with Sirius following behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Plenty of Jily and Katrina/Sirius relationship building, right? Just a dash of comic relief and cuteness before the heavy stuff. Hope you guys liked it! Review what you think! THANK TO MY FABULOUS BETA JANE!**


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